Star is a Disney Princess
by thDorkMagnet
Summary: A series of one-shots and multi-chapters proving why Star Butterfly should be considered a Disney Princess, as Star and company take over the roles of all your favorite Disney Princess characters! (Starco inevitable)
1. A Fairytale Beginning (Snow White)

A Fairytale Beginning (Star is Snow White AU)

 **Hello Stardom! I'm thDorkMagnet here to bring you all a new story to life, well several actually! So as the description said this is my way of proving that Star is and should be considered a Disney Princess, because she is amazing and deserves this title. And how you might ask do I do that, well by putting Star in the roles of all the other Disney Princesses and kinda seeing how Star turns their stories on their head by being her general all around Star-ness. Hijinks will ensue!**

 **First up is of course the very first Disney Princess: Snow White! (because I had to start with her) Keep in mind this is gong to be part 1 because I decided to go ahead and split it up so it's not just one giant chapter. The length of these will vary but I don't like the first chapter of a story to be super long.**

 **So anyways, I'll let you all get to it! This was a pretty fun project to try out and so I hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs the forces of evil and all its characters belongs to Daron Nefcy and Disney. Snow White belongs to Disney. All rights go to them.**

 _Once upon a time in the far away kingdom of Mewni, there lived a beautiful princess with golden hair that sparkled like the stars that shined in the night sky and a heart so pure and kind that it was said that when she was happy heart-like symbols would appear on her cheeks and would bring joy upon any who looked at them. And her name was Star White._

 _The reason for her strange and miraculous gift was because it was said that she had the ability to wield a lost art known as magic, aided by a powerful wand which had been past down to her by her late mother, Moon White. Armed with this mystic device, Star White was able to perform miraculous acts of good for her people and was beloved by all-_

Star White laughed at the passage on the scroll she was reading, the proclamation no doubt written by the Royal Wordsmith, who always tending to over-exaggerate things to fantastic proportions. "'Armed with the mystic device'," Star said in a mocking tone, waving around her wand in the air, goofily. "'She was able to perform miraculous acts of good for her people'." Star continued to giggle incessantly, at the hilarity of it all. She sat down on the edge of the well she was drawing water from to rest, her stomach aching from laughing so hard. She was in the beautiful castle garden, a place she often liked to visit when her stepmother wasn't loading her down with a billion boring chores to do.

"Seriously, like anyone would actually buy any of this junk," Star said to herself, rolling her eyes. "I'm not more special than anybody else is."

"Here is the water you asked for, Your Highness." Star looked behind her to see a shimmering butterfly holding the bucket she had sent it down the well with, the whole thing filled to the brim, the magical creature straining to hold the heavy object upright.

"Great," Star replied cheerily, smiling gratefully at the creature. "Just set it over there, somewhere." She gestured to the marble stairs that led back into the castle, where a group of living brooms were already hard at work scrubbing every inch of the staircase, the whole thing already dripping with soapy water. The butterfly did a small mid-air bow, nearly sloshing some of the water out of the bucket, before slowly floating over to the hard-at-work brooms. Star took a moment to admire her creations attentively doing her chores, really in awe at the range of abilities her wand possessed, sometimes even managing to impress herself with how incredibly useful they could be. "Man am I lucky I found that living broom spell in my spell book or this would have been a disaster to clean," she observed, laying down on the edge of the well, looking over the scroll again. "Now where was I," she muttered, lazily.

She scoffed, continuing to read the poetic garbage they were trashing out about her and her wand, the whole thing just so overly dramatic and cheesy that it was more silly than anything else. "Yeah right, like anyone would actually take any of this seriously," she remarked, skeptically.

…

"What is the meaning of this?!" Queen Heinous screamed, crumpling up the scroll in her hands angrily, before throwing it to the other side of the room, one of her servants having to duck to avoid getting hit by the wad of paper. "How dare they print such disgusting dribble about that royal brat!" the queen continued her rant, stomping back and forth around the room in an almost temper-tantrum. "Gemini!" she called angrily.

From another corner of the room, the queen's most trusted servant, Gemini, gulped in fear, not sure he had the strength to stand another one of the queen's jealous rages toward her stepdaughter. Queen Heinous had always had it out for Princess Star since the very beginning. Ever since she took the throne, taking over in place of Queen Moon, standing in for the young princess until she was old enough to inherit her own throne (the people feeling a child was unfit to hold all the powers of royalty) she had always hated the pretty princess. The biggest reason being that it was understood that once Princess Star reached the age of 21 she would be of legal age to take her stepmother's place as Queen of Mewni, which meant Heinous's time on the throne was limited. Not to mention that Star had of course inherited the most valuable heirloom in all of the Kingdom, the magic wand, being that only a true White family member could wield its incredible powers, which seemed to only be rubbing salt into an open wound, causing Heinous to grow more and more bitter and envious with every day that past. In fact, Heinous had begun treating Star more like a servant than the destined-to-be-queen she was, having her perform demeaning act such as cleaning up around the castle and refusing to allow her to wear her own crown in public. Though she was supposed to be teaching and guiding her to becoming a better leader she had done nothing to fulfill such a duty so far and that was not likely to change anytime soon.

"Gemini, where are you?!" the Queen screamed again, her subject sucking in a deep breath, before stepping out of his hiding place and gingerly approaching his ruler.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Gemini greeted with a bow.

"I would like to know the meaning behind these horrid scrolls!" Heinous demanded, Gemini trying not to shake with fear as the Queen's narrowed gaze rested on him.

"Umm, well I believe it was to help promote the princess's image," Gemini cautiously replied.

"Image?!" Gemini flinched at the raised tone. "What about my image? I'm their queen! Are you honestly telling me that that little air-head is more beloved than me, their loving and merciful ruler?!"

"Of course not, Your Majesty," Gemini said in a comforting tone. "The people adore you, as they should."

"Well obviously they do not adore me enough," Heinous scoffed, between clenched teeth, taking a seat back on her throne. She thought for a moment before saying in a commanding tone, "Gemini, send everyone else away. I need to be alone."

"Uh, yes, Your Majesty," Gemini replied, with a small bow, fairly sure he knew where this was going. He quickly shooed the other servants away, clearing the room of any prying eyes until only him and his queen remained. Once they were gone, he approached his queen, who had a sadistic look in her eyes. "Milady, your not honestly thinking of consulting with _it_ again, are you?" he asked, concerned.

"Of course I am," Heinous replied, rising from her seat and walking behind her throne, Gemini following quickly after. "It's the only way to know for sure if that little princess is going to be a nuisance to me or not."

"Yes but, you tend to get pretty emotional when it tells you something you don't like," her servant pointed out and the queen turned to him with an angered glare.

"I am not emotional!" she fumed and Gemini took a step back, quickly correcting his mistake.

"O-Of course not, m-my queen," he apologized, for being misspoke, bowing his head submissively.

With a huff, the queen turned her attention back to the drapes in front of her, drawing them back to reveal her greatest and most well-guarded secret: a magic mirror. She took in a deep breath before saying, "Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the most beloved of all."

The mirror made a clicking sound as it became active, the image showing a small loading bar which was spinning endlessly. The queen tapped her foot impatiently as she awaited it to connect. Finally, the mirror image displayed a purple pixie looking thing which stated in an overly-cheery voice, "We're sorry but the person or magical creature you are trying to reach is not available at this time. Please call again at a later date. Thank you on behalf of Pixie Mirror Inc. for your patience and understanding."

And just like that the mirror went black again, Queen Heinous shouting in anger, "What?!" She began banging a fist a few times against the glass, trying to force it to reconnect. "Come on, you stupid-" she hissed angrily, before she called at the top of her lungs to her servant who was standing right behind her. "GEMINI! FIX IT!"

Her minion, ignoring the ringing in his ears, stepped closer to the magic mirror, saying, "Yes, of course, Queen Heinous," while his queen crossed her arms, fuming unhappily. He cleared his throat, before trying a different phrase, "Mirror Mirror on the wall, please show us the One-who-knows-all."

The mirror once again began trying to connect, only this time a face appeared on the screen after a short wait, a small blue head just floating there in space. "Milady, he- uhhh it is here now," Gemini said, turning to his queen.

"Finally," she huffed, shoving Gemini out of the way so she could get a good look at the mystical creature in front of her, recognizing it immediately by the same purple gem that was embedded into its bald forehead and its familiar long white beard. She also recognized the blank expression it always seemed to have on and she smiled.

After a moment, the creature began to speak, in a loud, booming voice that echoed through the halls, as flames lit up behind his mirror image, "You have summoned forth Glossaryk, the One-who-knows-all, interrupted my life with your meaningless call. Within me lies the truths you so dearly do hunt, now all I ask is..." The flames instantly snuffed out and his voice lowered to a more normal level asking in a slightly annoyed tone, "What do you want?"

Gemini gave his queen another begging look, not trusting the little creature one bit, his information often proving to be more troublesome than he cared to admit, but Heinous didn't even seem to notice her servant was there anymore as she asked, "I want to know who my people love more, me or my bothersome stepdaughter?"

Glossaryk was silent for a moment, before saying, "The people do love her and adore her sweet ways, and this feeling only grows stronger over the days. Through her kind acts and heart that shines pure, she has stolen their attention with her gracious lure. In short, My Queen, it seems you worries were true, for Princess Star is so much more beloved than you."

"I KNEW IT!" Heinous screamed angrily, her whole body shaking with rage. "That little brat _is_ trying to take my throne away! Who does she think she is?!"

"Um, the princess, Your Highness," Gemini timidly responded.

"Not anymore," Heinous whispered darkly, pacing back and forth as she began scheming of a way to get rid of her happy-go-lucky competitor. "I'll just have her stripped of her royal power and sent to live with the peasants."

"Umm, my queen," Gemini tried again, his voice even softer and more nervous than before. "I don't think that is a good idea."

"I'm inclined to agree, that would be unwise," Glossaryk concurred in riddle. "A different plan I would advise."

Queen Heinous stopped pacing for a moment, thinking over what her two advisers were saying. "Perhaps you're both right," she sighed, seeing the flaws within her seemingly brilliant plan.

"W-We are, Your Majesty," Gemini stated in disbelief, not sure if he had heard his ruler right. He was unable to think of a time when the queen had ever agreed to being wrong about anything.

"Yes," she said, putting a hand to her chin, still deep in thought. "Simply revoking her right to the throne is only a temporary fix. I need something more... permanent." Heinous smiled evilly.

"P-Permanent," Gemini stuttered, feeling his body grow cold. He didn't like where this was going.

Heinous chuckled to herself. "Oh yes, what I need is to get rid of the princess. And then no one could ever challenge my right to the throne ever again." She turned to her servant, him and the still-active mirror thrown off guard by the crazed look in her eye. "Gemini, summon the nearest huntsmen to my chambers, I have an extra special job for him," she command, rubbing her hands together mysteriously.

For a moment, the two just stared at the evil queen with varying levels of concern, until at last, the mirror image Glossaryk spoke, not even bothering to rhyme his very true observation, "Well, she's gone nuts."

…

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Star asked the huntsmen who had guided her into the forest, skeptically. She turned to look at the tall green frog, dressed head to toe in traditional hunting clothes. Buff Frog, who had been smiling nervously the whole trip, refused to meet her eye, sweat dripping off of his face.

"Uhh, da, princess," he said in a heavy Russian accent. "This is definitely right way."

"Really?" Star said, raising an eyebrow at the huntsma... uhh huntsfrog. "Cause we were supposed to be going to put out a fire at the Dry Wood Meadows..."

"Which is totally true and not just lie I make up so you come with me," Buff Frog quickly said.

"What?" Star said.

"What?" Buff Frog repeated immediately.

"Annnyywho," Star said, feeling an uncomfortable tension beginning to form. "According to this sign..." She pointed out the sign in front of her, reading if off for her animal-like escort. "We're at some place called, 'Isolation Point: where no one can here you scream.' Huh."

Buff Frog said nothing, more sweat pouring off of his face, watching the young princess closely as she continued to examine the sign, slowly drawing a knife from his belt. "Sorry to say this, Buff Frog," she continued. "But I think you may have gotten us lost."

The frog looked down at the knife, which was shaking in his nervous grip, unsure what to do. He had been given strict orders from the queen herself to dispose of the princess, an order which he wanted nothing to do with, wishing he had never even heard the command. He, like many in the kingdom, adored Princess Star and wished for her to be the ruler instead of her tyrant of a stepmother. He wasn't sure if he could bring himself to kill her in cold blood. But if he didn't finish his mission, the queen would surely have his head instead.

So, Buff Frog swallowed down his guilt, stepping closer to the unsuspecting princess and raising the knife into the air, preparing to stab her. The girl continued to be oblivious to the danger directly behind her, cocking her head to the side and humming to herself as she tried to make sense of the directions. But just as Buff Frog was about to thrust his knife right into her unsuspecting back, his nerves got the better of him, the hunter dropping the knife to the floor and collapsing to his knees.

Star, hearing the loud thud, turned in surprise as Buff Frog began begging at her feet, bowing as low to the ground as his muscular body would allow him. "I'm sorry, princess," he wept in sadness and guilt, grabbing onto her legs. "Please forgive me."

"Uhhh, it's okay, Buff Frog," Star replied anxiously, unsure what had caused the frog's sporadic mood shift. "I know you didn't mean to get us lost."

"No, I'm sorry I tried to kill you," Buff Frog admitted, his voice still chocked with sobs, as he looked sorrowfully up at the girl.

"Wait, what?!" Star exclaimed, taking a step away from the monster and out of his grasp, suddenly unsure what to think of him.

"Is true," Buff Frog continued to confess, disheartened. "I lied to you, so you would come out here, princess, and I so sorrryyy!"

"Why- Why would you do that?!" Star asked, shocked, pulling out her wand and holding it out toward her would-be attacker, demanding an answer from the huntsfrog.

"Is not me," Buff Frog said, rising to his feet again. "Is queen she wants you dead!"

"What?" Star whispered, her eyes widening. "Queen Heinous? But why, I haven't done anything?"

Buff Frog shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Queen, she is very jealous of you, she will do anything to keep throne for herself." Star gave him a disbelieving stare, keeping the wand raised. "Please, princess, you must believe me," he added, trying to urge her with his begging tone.

Star said nothing for a moment, feeling extremely unsure of whether or not she could trust what the monster was saying. After all, he had just tried to stab her in the back. But, on the other hand... did it really seem all that far-fetched. After all, Star knew quite well of the spiteful feelings her stepmother often showed towards her. And the more she thought about the less crazy it seemed that her super jealous guardian would want to keep her away from the throne at any cost. Still, Star never would have thought she would have taken it _this far_.

Star gave the monster a suspicious glare before asking, "Okay, let's say you are telling the truth and the queen does want me dead, why not just kill me, then, like she asked?"

"Because I cannot kill beloved princess, even if means disobeying orders," Buff Frog responded immediately. "I believe you make better ruler than her."

Though it might not have been the wisest choice, Star found herself believing the huntsfrog. After all, he had wasted his best chance to kill her a moment ago, when she had no idea the attack was coming. If he had really wanted to kill her, he would have done it then, confirming it in Star's mind that Heinous did, in fact, want her dead.

But that left Star with a bigger problem to deal with... now what? Star definitely couldn't risk going home. She knew that this failure would do nothing to ward the evil queen off from trying something like this again, the blond knew just how persistent her step-mom was, going to any lengths to get what she wanted. And right now she apparently wanted Star dead.

Star began biting on her wand, something she often did when she was deep in thought, as she tried to come up with some kind of plan, with no results. _Come on Star_ , _think,_ she urged herself. I _f you don't figure this out than you are looking at spending the next couple of years of your life dodging Heinous' assassins._ Finally, she sighed in exasperation, lowering her wand. "Yeah well, if I don't think of some kind of plan, then I may not get a chance to prove you right," Star said to the frog bitterly, crossing her arms, feeling overwhelmed.

Buff Frog hesitated for a second, taking in the look of uncertainty on the girl's scrunched up face, before saying confidently, "Will not come to that, princess."

Star looked surprised by this, giving him a skeptical look, asking, "What makes you so sure?"

"Because I go back and tell queen that I successful with mission," Buff Frog volunteered, his tone strong and sure. "While you escape into woods."

Star instinctively turned to look back at the forest behind her, quite aware of the fact that they were relatively deserted and very rarely traveled, the place seeming like the perfect place to hide from Heinous and anyone seeking her harm. Star's face brightened as she turned back to the monster. "Oh yeah! That could work!" Star shouted in excitement at the suggestion, glad she had some kind of plan to work off of. "Nobody ever goes in there!"

"Exactly," Buff Frog confirmed, nodding his head in approval. "You will be safe there."

Star, without thinking, gave the huntsmen a quick hug around the waist, saying sweetly, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" As she pulled away Buff Frog could swear he saw small pink hearts on Star's cheeks, glowing and pulsing, but when he blinked they were gone, causing the frog to believe it had just been a trick of the light.

"You are welcome, princess," Buff Frog said, respectfully.

Star turned to face the forest, building up her nerve as she prepared to enter it. Suddenly, Star thought of something, swerving back around to face the frog. "But wait, what about you?" she asked, in concern. "What if she figures out you are lying?"

Buff Frog didn't seem frightened of the thought, putting a hand to his chest and bowing his head. "Then I gladly face consequences for actions."

Star stared at the frog silently for a moment, before she whipped out her wand, using it to make a small chest. "Here," she said, handing it to the frog. "Give this to Queen Heinous, it'll help throw her off the scent."

"Thank you, princess," Buff Frog said accepting the gift in slight confusion. "But what is it?"

"It's my heart," she explained.

Buff Frog's eyes widened in horror. "Your heart?!" he repeated in almost disgust, holding the box farther away from his muscular self.

"Yep," Star said with a smile. Before adding, "The heart necklace that my mother gave to me. It's been passed down in my family for generations." She waved a finger in the air matter-of-factly as she explained this to the frog, who visibly relaxed as she did.

"Oh, I see, that much better," Buff Frog said relieved, visibly sighing.

"Well yeah, what did you really think I was gonna put my actual heart in there or something?" Star asked, with a dismissive scoff.

"Ha ha no, of course not," Buff Frog said, chuckling nervously.

With that Star turned back to the forest, just looking up at the tall treeline that towered over her, unmoving. Though she was anything but afraid of the dark overgrowth in front of her, she still couldn't help but feel hesitant to cross into the woods. Once she had, there would be no going back, she was leaving her old life behind, possibly forever and that thought was causing her insides to twist up uncomfortably, for just a moment remembering the life she was giving up. Though it was far from perfect, she would miss the friends she had made in the kingdom and, well, it was her home she had grown to love it, deeply.

She took a deep breath reminding herself of the stakes, before forcing her feet into motion running into the dark woods, alone.

 **So that does it for part 1! Like I said I don't like super long first chapters, but I will do part 2 next because I can't wait to introduce you all to the replacements to the seven dwarfs characters! I would also like to say that unlike my main story this one will not have a particular release date as I am doing this in my spare time, so I will just release one whenever I can get it done. But my main story I will still be trying to keep on its regular schedule.**

 **So please feel free to favorite, follow, and review and let me know what you all thought of this story! See you next time! Love you all, bye!**


	2. The Seven Marcos (Snow White part 2)

The Seven Marcos (Star is Snow White AU part 2)

 **Hey everyone is here is part 2 of Snow White! Thank you all so much for all the love and support for this strange idea I had and I appreciate all the favorites, follows, and reviews! So as the title implies, you now know why I was so excited to introduce you all to the seven dwarf characters! Originally I debated on using Star's spells as the replacements, until I talking to my good friend 7Lights13Darknesses and he suggested I instead make them all different personalities of Marco! So thanks so much for the idea 7L13D, of course I had to take it because the idea was too perfect! Also yes, expect some Starco people, expect some Starco.**

 ***Quick Edit: Star had the wrong last name in this one so I just did a quick fix on it***

 **Disclaimer: Star vs the forces of evil and all its characters belongs to Daron Nefcy and Disney. Snow White belongs to Disney. All rights go to them.**

The forest was dark and foreboding, everything within bathed in shadows, the air alive with tension and malice. Few dared venture this far into the woods, even the bravest adventures would find a hard time crossing through the dimly lit jungle. There were many whispered rumors about the place some believing it to enchanted by a witch and that any who passed through would suffer a grim curse.

This didn't seem all that unbelievable, many things playing into its notoriously disturbing rumor, which only added to the fear. For one thing, strange and frightening noises could always be heard echoing through the treetops, as if some unknown creature was watching you just out of sight... waiting. Not to mention the fact that everything within the woods was creepy and distorted, even the trees were mangled in bizarre looking shapes, even sort of faces could be made out of the rough bark, grimly sending fear into the hearts of any who passed. Yes, it seemed the whole place gave off an unignorably eery feeling, as if there were some kind of dark magic at work there, making any who entered uncomfortable.

And it only grew worse the deeper in you went.

The particular stretch of forest Star entered was no different, the princess having walked for quite a while, the forest growing darker and colder the further in she went. She paused for a moment, wiping some stray leaves that had clung to her, before she looked up at the trees that surrounded her on all sides. They all seemed to have evil, sinister faces on them, glaring at her with wooden fangs pocking out of the bark, their sharp branches spread out like claws about to grab at her, the little light poking through the dark treeline above accenting the terror of the non-living creatures in front of her.

Suddenly, Star rolled her eyes, scoffing to herself, as she waved the trees off, saying in a semi-laugh, "Please you're gonna have to try harder than that to scare me." She then, walked past them without a second thought, going even deeper into the woods, humming a happy tune as she did. Just as she disappeared out of sight, the trees all seemed to wilt, their scary looking faces shifting into sad, almost disappointed frowns.

…

Star continued on for several hours, going deeper and deeper into the heart of the woods, as the day slowly drew itself to a close, mostly just wandering aimlessly, thinking to herself and trying to fight off the horrible case of boredom she was suffering from. She was really starting to wish she could come across something, _anything_ , other than stupid trees, Star even finding herself wanting to see something actually scary just to give her something to do. But even that hope was dashed, as she apparently had reached an end to the woods creepy section, the girl now wandering in a fairly beautiful and peaceful haven hidden at the dark forest's center, its bright and colorful nature the exact opposite to its dark and shadowy counterpart that lied just beyond the treeline, a hidden gem in a sea of shadows and gray.

Even as twilight began to creep in and the sun began to set, the sky turning a delightful and enchanting shade of red as it bathed the land below it in its soft glow, marking an end to another day, the forest still seemed alive with positive energy. Star could hear birds singing and chittering away in the treetops, as well as see other woodland critters happily grazing the lush landscape, a babbling brook running through the area creating a comforting melody.

But Star was far from feeling peaceful, her boredom beginning to make her feel frustrated. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Star had reached her limit, as she groaned loudly, slumping herself back in a pouty manner, ignoring the comforting sensation she was getting from the soft object she was currently laying on. "Ugh, so borrreed," she moaned to herself. "No wonder nobody ever comes out here, there's literally nothing to see."

"Well, other than that cottage over there," the pink cloud spell named Cloudy (that Star was currently riding on) said cheerfully.

Star sat up immediately, curiously looking around her. "What? What cottage?" Star asked eagerly, overjoyed for something new to see, hearts once again appearing on her cheeks, beating once, before vanishing. Now that she was looking she spotted it quickly, Star indeed surprised she had missed it in the first place. It was a nice little two-story cottage, tucked in a fairly peaceful and secluded clearing, a dirt path Star couldn't believe she had missed leading to the country house, the place homey and appealing to the young princess. Though Star was surprised to see it there, under the impression that nobody ever entered this deep into the woods, much less lived there. But it seemed she was wrong. "Good catch, Cloudy," Star praised her happy-go-lucky spell. "Now let's go see if anybodies home."

"Sure thing, Star," the cloud responded immediately, flying quickly over to the cottage in an attempt to try and fill his master's request faster.

Once Star and Cloudy were close enough to the cottage, Star slid off of the floating pink fluffball, finding it easy enough to walk the rest of the way. She turned back to the living cloud for a second saying cheerily, "Thanks, Cloudy, but I think I can take it from here."

"You're welcome, Star," the spell responded, its eyes twinkling. "I love you!"

"I love you too," Star whispered in embarrassment, her cheeks turning pink, as she raised her wand in the air, undoing her spell. Cloudy screamed in pain, before it vanished from existence, its cry fading out a second later. Star, however, seemed unaffected by this, as she skipped off toward the cottage without a second thought.

Once Star reached the door to the cozy cottage she knocked on the firm, wood frame. She waited for someone to come answer the door, humming to herself and rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. But after a while, no one came.

Star frowned, before knocking again, this time a bit harder. "Helloooo!" she called, hoping to draw their attention. She waited once more for someone to let her inside, crossing her arms, her foot tapping away impatiently. But again, there was no reply.

Star groaned in frustration, before knocking as hard on the door as she could, waiting with clenched fists, this time not expecting much. And her suspicion was correct, once again the door left untouched and unopened.

Finally, she stepped around to a nearby window, pressing her face against it as she squinted inside. Though it was dark, Star could see that the house was empty at the moment, Star unable to make out any movements or signs of life from within. "Nobodies home," she said to herself.

Star thought for a second trying to decide what would be the best course of action. Should she go in or not? With nobody there, this meant that Star would be intruding on someone else's private property and if she was caught she could be labeled a creep by the only other apparent resident of the spooky forest. But on the other hand, Star needed a place to stay, really not wanting to be wandering around alone in the dark. Star felt indecisive, leaning against the country house, with a tired groan. Then, her stomach growled, making up her mind for her, as she said, "That's it," before marching back around to the front door.

There was a loud explosion as the door to the house was blasted off its hinges, landing inside the house, burnt and broken, followed by Star saying, "Oops." She stepped inside with her now-smoking wand a guilty look in her eyes, the wand still a little more potent than she was used to. She looked around to make sure no one had seen anything, before picking the door back up and propping it half-haphazardly against its frame, before calling it good enough. She turned on her heels so she could get a good look at the home she had broken in t- err, she had entered. Or at least she would have, if the room wasn't pitch black. "Ugh, why is it so dark in here?" she groaned.

She waved her wand, doing a graceful spin, chanting cheerily, "Luminescent Glowworm Lightshow!" Suddenly, the room was covered in smiling, floating glowworms making it far easier to see everything. "There, that's better," she said, giving a small nod, allowing herself a successful smile.

"Hi Star!" all the luminescent creatures called as one.

"Hi guys!" she replied, equally joyfully. With the house now well-lit Star could see that the place was just as homey on the inside as it was on the outside, Star feeling quite comfortable already in there, though she did notice that the house was kept absolutely spotless, the floors scrubbed clean to perfection, everything organized and put in its prospective place, and not a speck of dust or cobwebs anywhere to be seen. Whoever did the cleaning there was an exceptionally tidy person, borderline obsessive. "Wow, someone _really_ likes cleaning," Star said to herself, as the distinct scent of soap drifted to her nose, even though that seemed rather unlikely considering the house had probably been abandoned all day.

This was when she noticed the next thing about the house, it wasn't owned by merely one person, in fact she figured it was instead shared by seven people, due to the fact that that number kept popping up over and over again, all throughout the home. Everything in the house had been divided up perfectly for seven people, from the number of chairs they had to sit in, to the number of cups they had setting in their cupboard, and so on and so forth. Seven, seven, seven.

"Huh? So this place must belong to seven people, then?" she concluded, thoughtfully, walking up the steps that led to the second floor. "Well hopefully they won't mind taking in one more house guest."

She paused in the doorway of the bedroom, staring in at the seven neatly made beds, not a wrinkle in sight. "Oh, great," she dead-panned. "They _all_ are super tidy." She herself was not the most organized person in the world, but she would have to be extra careful about making messes from this point on to ensure that she stayed on whoever lived there's good side. She just hoped she could convince them to let her stay, Star figuring a lot of begging would be involved, especially after what she had accidentally done to their door (She should probably try and fix that actually, before they got back). Still, there was no point in stressing about it now, she would just cross that bridge when she got there... or when they got back... or whatever.

She was just about to head downstairs, when suddenly, a wave of exhaustion flooded over her, her whole body feeling as heavy as a brick, causing her to yawn. She rubbed at her now-heavy eyelids, Star really struggling to stay awake all of a sudden. She had no idea what had brought her sudden fatigue on, Star realizing she must have been more worn out by everything than she had thought. Who would have figured that being almost killed by an assassin sent by your adopted mother bent on taking over your throne would take so much out of you?

Without realizing it, she found herself laying down on the nearest bed, still yawning, settling easily into the comfy pillow and soft sheets, now bathed in their warmth. She knew she should try and stay awake, so she could greet the owners when they got back but she had no idea when that would be or even if it would be anytime soon. For all she knew they would be gone all night, so she concluded to take a tiny nap, just to get her energy back. "I'll just close my eyes for one minute," she mumbled half-asleep, her heavy eyelids already shut, as she gave in to her exhaustion and allowed herself to rest.

A moment later, the girl was snoring, already fast asleep.

…

Not too far off from the country cottage, seven young boys all wearing bright red hoodies marched through the woods in a line, all of them ready to get back home after a long day of work. Though they all wore the same exact outfit their choice in fashion was not the only similarity the boys all shared. In fact, they were mostly identical, the same brown hair, same brown eyes and tanned skin, even the same mole on all of their left cheeks. They were all spitting images of each other, the similarities between them too many to count. They even shared the same name: Marco Ubaldo Diaz. Though there were some noticeable differences, too, all of them slightly altering their appearances just enough that that they could be told apart to help make it less confusing.

The one in the lead, who wore a brown sweater vest ontop of his hoodie and a pair of glasses, held up a lantern to light his path, as he guided his matching companions through the dark woods. He smiled as he spotted a familiar sight just up ahead, their cottage looking quite welcoming after a long day in the mines. "Hey guys, I can see the house up ahead. We're almost home."

"'Bout time," The Marco behind him mumbled, annoyed. He wore a black leather jacket over his hoodie, a pair of fingerless black gloves, a purple beanie laying over his messy, unkept hair, and a random band-aid on his cheek. He had his hands tucked deep in his pockets, walking forward with a noticeable slump and an angry frown on his face.

"Yeah we made it!" another one of the boys cheered, pumping his fists excitedly in the air, a bright smile permanently engraved on his face and his eyes always shining with unsuppressed joy. His hoodie was tied around his waist, showing off his white undershirt that had a picture of a yellow sun on it. "Isn't that great, Marco?!"

He turned to look at another of the Marco's, who gave a short little nod and a thumbs up. There seemed to be no noticeable difference in the boy's choice of clothing in comparison to the others, wearing just his hoodie, black slacks and green sneakers like the rest. The only difference for him came from the fact that he never spoke a word, having to gesture any emotion he wanted to relay.

The hyper boy picked up his pace so he could give his scowling counterpart a playful nudge with his elbow, to his obvious annoyance. "Told you we would make it back!"

The leather-wearing Marco rolled his eyes, snapping in irritation, "Whatever?" He roughly shoved the cheerful boy away from him without a second thought. "Would have gotten here sooner if someone hadn't gone the wrong way." He gave the Marco in the lead a knowing look, the smugness on his face unmistakable.

The glasses-wearing boy came to a stop as he shot him a glare at the comment. "Hey that's not my fault," Marco said defensively. He pointed to another one of the hooded boys. "He's the one who made us go the 'safe route'." He did air-quotes on the last phrase to demonstrate his point. The others all sighed.

"What?!" the Marco in question cried, looking quite offended by their negative behavior, looking between them all with a frown. His choice in fashion was more safety-inclined, wearing a blue helmet, a safety vest over his hoodie, as well as a fanny pack which was for, in his words exactly, "just in case".

"The way our leader wanted to go was known for bear attacks! Forgive me if I wanted to keep everyone from getting eaten." He crossed his arms in a pouty gesture. "And we made it back, anyways, didn't we? And with all our limbs attached. So really you should all be thanking me."

"Thanking you?" leather-clad Marco asked knowingly, raising a cryptic eyebrow.

"You're welcome," the other boy shot back, giving him a smug smile.

"Hey guys," another voice whispered shyly from the back of the line, this one wearing his hood up at all times, his face always covered slightly by shadows. He blushed as all eyes were drawn to him, looking away from them and slowly shrinking a bit into himself.

"What? What is it, Marco?" the smiling Marco said, moving closer so he was leaning in to his face, which only made the other more nervous and unsure.

"Umm, well I-I..." the boy stuttered out, his voice getting softer with every word, tapping the tips of his pointer fingers together nervously.

Finally, the black-clothed Marco let out an annoyed sigh, before snapping, "Just get to the point!"

The blushing boy gulped, before blurting in a still-quiet tone, "Well, I just noticed that there are lights on in the house is all."

All the Marco's turned to look back at the cottage, seeing that their shy counterpart was right, though it was faint and far away, there was a noticeable light seen seeping from the windows, even from that distance. "Okay who's turn was it to put out the candles this morning?" the glasses-wearing Marco asked, looking between the others accusingly.

His gaze, as well as most of the others halted on the final Marco, who was looking sheepishly around him, noticing everyone now staring at him. He was more unkept than the others, his hair messy and his clothes slightly disheveled with little rips in the hoodie and jeans here and there. He also had a large band-aid on the top of his forehead, but unlike the other boy's, who's seemed more for show, his seemed to be serving its actual, intended purpose. "Uhhh, well technically that would be me," he said guiltily, raising a finger in the air.

"Of course it was," leather-wearing Marco scoffed, rolling his eyes. The others all shook their heads, all of them well aware of how accident-pron the boy could be sometimes... or a lot of times.

"You need to be more careful," cautious Marco cut in, wagging a scolding finger in the air. "The whole house could have burnt down. Do you have any idea how easy it is for a house to catch fire from an unsupervised flame?"

"But I swear I remembered to do it this time, you gotta believe me," the boy shot back, shooting them all an innocent smile, his eyes pleading. "Just ask Marco, he'll vouch for me." He pulled the silent teen in front of him, who nodded his head in agreement to what his counterpart was saying.

"Well someone left the lights on," the safe boy said, putting his hands to his hips. "And since it was your job that means it had to be you!"

"But I didn't!"

"Actually I saw him, too," the blushing Marco whispered shyly, but he was vastly ignored by the others as the two Marco's continued to go at it. "Oh okay, never mind," he muttered, rubbing a hand up and down his arm.

"Come on guys, let's not fight," the leader of the Marco's said, literally stepping between the two, trying to quell the argument before it could get out of hand. "We're all Marco's here."

"Debatably," leather-clad Marco spoke up, shooting the smiling boy next to him a glare, while, sliding his hands expertly into his pockets.

But the perky boy seemed unfazed by the insult, as he slung an arm happily around the glaring teen, while pocking him in the shoulder with his free hand, "Oh come on, Marco. You know you love me."

"You are literally the worst," the rebellious boy snapped, pulling out of his grasp. "Can't believe I was ever this perky! And stop poking me, you're gonna mess up my jacket."

This caused their leader to tiredly pinch the bridge of his nose, releasing an exasperated sigh. "Can we just... go home please, before the whole place burns down?" he asked flatly, too overwhelmed to deal with the situation any further, already walking off toward the cottage.

"Okay let's go!" the happy-go-lucky Marco exclaimed in joy, already racing off toward the house, three other Marco's following after, the shy boy keeping his head down so as not to attract attention, the safe Marco watching him and the others closely to make sure they didn't trip on anything, and the black-clothed teen following with an annoyed scowl, looking like he clearly had better things to do.

That left only the clumsy Marco and the silent Marco alone, watching the others go, clumsy Marco looking more and more distressed by the second. "Wait, guys, I really didn't do it!" he shouted after them, but they were either too far away to hear or just didn't care to listen anymore. He sighed loudly, a hurt look in his eyes as he turned to his silent partner. "You believe me, right?"

The mute gave a sad look, patting him on the shoulder to show he understood.

…

The closer the five got, the brighter the lights became, until the glasses-wearing Marco put out his lantern, finding its light unnecessary, the forest now well-lit by the glow from their country home. Eventually, the Marcos found themselves standing in front of their home, all of them relieved to finally be back. They all stared up at the country cottage, examining it closely as they walked to their front door, able to easily make out the features of their lovely home from the bright lights still being cast out the windows within, lighting up the whole area. "Geez, how many candles did the idiot light?" the black-leathered teen observed in annoyance, feeling a little confused how a few measly candles could be creating so much luminosity.

"Well, look on the bright side," the hyper boy said cheerily, taking a second to chuckle at his unintentional pun before finishing. "At least it's still standing."

"Yeah, thankfully," cautious Marco mumbled, still a little peeved about his counterparts blatant disregard for safety. "He could have burnt the whole forest down with that many candles."

"But he didn't," happy Marco defended. "Everything is safe and sound, just like you like it."

The other Marco sighed, before an almost relaxed smile graced his lips. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I mean it doesn't look like anything caught on fire."

"That's the spirit, Marco!" the leader of the Marcos said, proud of his nervous counterpart for being positive for once in his life, turning to look at him and the others, as he reached out a hand to push the door open, saying reassuringly, "See, I told you there was nothing to be worried ab-"

But the boy never got to finish his sentence, as his hand carelessly brushed against the rough wood, the whole thing immediately falling over revealing the inside of the quiet cottage, making the boy stagger. Every single Marcos' mouth dropped open at the sight that greeted them within, the entire area coated in smiling, glowing worm-like creatures, which were floating in the air.

The startling creatures, all attracted to the loud noise, turned to look at the five boys who still stood agape in the doorway, huddled together in a small sea of bright red. For a few seconds there was just silence, as the five like-minded teens stared at the wondrous glowing creatures. Until finally, the boys seemed to have recovered from their shock all of them releasing a high-pitched scream, reminiscing that of a girl. The glowworms also screamed, before flooding out of the house, the Marcos having to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit by the stampede of floating worms.

Just as the creatures were exiting their home, the final two Marcos stepped out of the woods and into the clearing outside their house, both of them thrown off-guard by the creatures heading right toward them. Clumsy Marco tried to dodge out of the way, but ended up tripping, falling into his quiet friend causing them both to land hard on the floor, as the swarm of creatures flew over their heads. "Sorry!" the guilty boy screamed.

The others all just watched in awe as the glowworms disappeared into the night sky, heading off to who knows where as they panted, trying to recover from the shocking ordeal. Once he knew it was safe, the klutzy Marco helped his mute partner up, still muttering sheepish apologizes to him.

"What the heck was that?!" cautious Marco shouted.

"Uhhhh, I honestly have no idea," their leader muttered in response, his eyebrows pinched together in confusion. "They looked like... worms or something."

"Well whatever those things were, they're gone now," leather-clad Marco pointed out.

"Yeah, but, something had to of let those things inside," the leader said, sounding deep in thought. "Not to mention knock the door over. And since none of us were here than... it must have been somebody else."

"What?!" cautious Marco exclaimed, instantly on guard, raising his hands in some sort of karate stance. "Like-like-like an intruder or-or a burglar?!"

"Don't know," the boy replied, his voice soft and mysterious. His gaze slowly shifted to the broken shambles of what was once their door. "But whoever it was, packs a big punch."

"But how could that be?" the clumsy boy pointed out, as he and his quiet partner caught up with the rest. "We're the only ones who live out here?"

"Apparently not anymore," leather-clad Marco said, as he and the others all looked into the doorway.

"So, what do we do?" shy Marco asked, softly, looking to the leader.

"Move!" the safe kid shouted in concern, his suggestion met with a lot of eye-rolling from the others.

"Other than that," leather-clad Marco said in a huff.

"Well one of us should go check out the house, just to make sure they're gone," the leader said, adjusting his glasses.

"But how do we decide who that is?" the klutzy boy asked.

Nobody answered, as they all just looked amongst each other, nervously, casting weary glances at the doorway, none daring to volunteer for the crazy task, waiting for someone else to speak up instead. After a moment of anxious silence, happy Marco finally blurted out, "Not it!" to which the rest of the Marcos quickly reciprocated, all but the mute boy shouting out the same phrase, cementing themselves as free from having to traverse the now dangerous home.

"Well looks like it's all on you, Marco," the leader said to his silent companion, the others trying to hide their sighs of relief.

The boy pointed to himself in shock.

"Yes you," rebel Marco said, rolling his eyes, before sharply pointing his finger inside. "Now get in there."

The silent boy took a step back, shaking his head vigorously. He looked around at all of them helplessly, his eyes pleading for them to not make him be the one to do it. He even did a little begging gesture with his hands, his eyes widening, giving them a sad puppy-dog look, but unfortunately the other Marcos were immune to the adorable stare. "Come on, Marco," cautious Marco insisted. "You know the rules. You lost fair and square." The boy put his hands on his hips, raising a knowing eyebrow.

"Okay, okay, so technically you couldn't really talk so it wasn't exactly fair," the other Marco corrected himself. "But what do you want us to do about it?"

The quiet one released a soundless sigh, before taking on a brave face and marching into the house, having to step over the fallen door. The others waited in the doorway, watching him intensely.

The mute made quick work of the first story, checking in every area he could think an intruder would hide in within the living room and kitchen. But after a couple of second it became apparent he was alone, save for the six pairs of brown eyes watching his every movement. The boy looked around at the small one-story floor, tapping a finger to his chin, knowing that it would be unlikely any intruder would be down there. Most likely if they were still there they would have gone...

Marco looked up at the second floor, the door to the bedroom left wide-open. He did an "ah-ha" gesture, before turning to the others with a proud smile, pointing to the wooden staircase. He quickly went over, before slowly scaling up the creaky steps, trying to be as quiet as possible.

The others just watched in growing sadness, until the shy one of them said, "There goes one brave Marco." The others all nodded.

"Well, looks like we're officially down to six," the black-clothed teen said.

"Funny I always thought the clumsy one of us would have been the first to go," happy Marco pointed out.

"Me too," klutzy Marco exclaimed in joy, sounding just as surprised. He did a small little fist pump in celebration. "Yes, outliving expectations!"

…

Marco slowly peeked his head into the bedroom, his brown eyes searching the dark room thoroughly for any signs of an intruder. It didn't take long before he noticed the small figure laying on one of the beds. Though the boy couldn't tell anything about the shadowy figure currently on the timid Marco's bed, he could tell by their soft breathing that they were fast asleep, hearing the tell-tale sound of snoring every so often.

He hesitated for a second, unsure if he should risk waking the stranger, before he began to carefully tip-toe closer, until he was standing over the bed, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark enough to inspect their trespasser. But once he did, the boy was shocked and amazed by what he saw, the person in front of him not some mad, crazy thief but a beautiful blond girl. She was about his age, her face looking gentle and peaceful as she slept, and the boy felt his cheeks flush instantly as he noticed how cute she was. It had been a long time since he or any of the others had seen anyone from outside the forest, all of them choosing to a life of seclusion from the rest of the world, so the boy couldn't remember how long ago it had been since he had last seen a girl. Much less one that pretty.

For a moment the boy was frozen in a blushing state of shock as he just watched the pretty blond sleep, his eyes shimmering as he was mesmerized by her simple act of breathing. For just a second he thought he saw pink hearts appear on her cheeks and he blinked caught off-guard by the sight. He rubbed his eyes, but when he looked again they were gone, Marco thinking it must have just been a trick of the light. Or maybe...

"Hey Marco did you find anything?!"

He cringed at the loud voice yelling from below, watching the girl wide-eyed for any reaction. But the girl was stuck deep in dreamland, simply rolling over, making a little moaning sound, before falling back to sleep and the boy released a silent sigh, putting a hand to his pounding heart. He quickly exited the room, before anyone could shout anything else to him, looking down over the railing to the bottom of the staircase where the rest of the Marcos had gathered, all of them seeming a little shocked to see him there.

"Marco, you're alive!" the cautious one shouted in relief. While behind him, the grumpy one of him handed over some cash to the smiling boy, who excepted the cash with an "I-told-you-so" look.

The silent boy just nodded, shooting them all a comforting smile.

"Did you see anyone up there?" the leader Marco asked, seriously.

Once again, the boy nodded and all the Marcos gasped.

"So someone is here," the safe boy muttered, sounding fearful.

"Were they dangerous? Did they attack you?" glasses-wearing Marco asked, looking equally as panicked.

"Did you fight them off, at least?" the black-leathered teen asked, crossly.

The mute Marco waved his hands in front of him, shaking his head.

"Wait, so they didn't attack?" the cautious boy asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Did they seem like fun, then?" the happy Marco blurted, feeling far less weary of the stranger than the others, his scowling counterpart shooting him a glare. "What?" the boy asked innocently.

"Does it look like they took anything?" the leader tried, ignoring the outburst from the other.

Silent Marco thought for a second, before shrugging unsure, but the look in his eyes told them that he didn't think so.

"Huh? So then what are they still doing here?" the nervous boy asked, his eyes wide with freight.

Marco pretended to go to sleep, putting his hands together and laying his head against them.

"Sleeping?!" they all shouted in surprise.

Marco immediately put a finger to his lips, trying to tell them to keep their voices down, his eyes jumping to the still-opened door with a grimace. The other boys all started to talk at once, asking questions to the silent one, who kept opening his mouth and raising his hands to answer but was unable to, due to all the interruptions.

"Wait, what are they doing sleeping in our house?"

"What do they look like?"

"Who are they and what do they want?"

"Did you tell them to get lost?"

Finally, the boy sighed giving up on explaining, before waiting patiently for them all to quiet down. Eventually, they stopped, just watching the hooded boy. He gestured to them to follow him, before going back into the room, figuring it was better to just show them what they were dealing with. The others shared a look with each other, feeling unsure, before climbing up the staircase after their far braver counterpart, wearily.

A minute later, all seven boys were gathered around the bed staring wide-eyed at the sleeping girl, all of them with slight blushes on their cheeks, though none worse than the shy ones, that particular Marco's face the brightest shade of red any of them had ever seen him, while he nervously muttered things to himself under his breath and looking at anything in the room other than his bed and the blond currently asleep on it.

"I-It's a girl!" the glasses-wearing Marco stuttered needlessly, adjusting his glasses as if afraid his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"We can see that genius," the rebellious Marco growled though he also looked very thrown-off guard.

"But who is she?" the safe one asked, eying the girl suspiciously, despite the fast beating of his heart. "And what is she doing here?"

"S-She's in my bed," the boy's heard a voice squeak behind them, all of them turning to see the bashful boy, who apparently had recovered enough to speak and who looked like he was on the verge of passing out, probably due to all the blood rushing to his face. "W-W-What is s-she doing in my bed?"

They all shared a look, knowing they had to do something to try and calm their counterpart down, as he went back to muttering under his breath, his whole body shaking. "Deep breaths, Marco," the leader said in a soothing whisper, moving beside him, so he was patting the boy on the back, trying to get him to recover from all his worrying thoughts. "Deep breaths."

"Yeah, it isn't that big of a deal, is it?" the smiling Marco tried, also patting his companion on the back, but far less gentle than the other, keeping his voice down to a semi-yell. "I mean, so what if there's some super pretty girl sleeping in our room..."

The boy's eyes widened as he seemed to of realized what he said, he and all the others simultaneously whipping their heads back toward the snoozing blond. "Guys," glasses Marco breathed, his face turning redder and redder by the second. "Th-there's a girl... in our room."

"What do we do?" klutzy Marco asked, his hands unknowingly tugging at the strands of brown hair that were poking out of his helmet.

"Tell her to leave, of course," rebel Marco stated as if the answer was obvious.

"Wait! We can't wake her up," the safe kid said in a loud hiss.

"Why not?" the leather-clad teen argued. "It's still our house, after all."

"Well, because..." the boy started, but drifted off into silence, unsure of the answer.

Rebel Marco huffed. "Look, pretty or not she still broke in and she has to go." The boy realizing what he said, quickly looked away from the others, coughing into his hand to try and cover his blush. "Anyways, I'll bet she's nothing but trouble," he added.

"Awww come on we don't know that," the happy-go-lucky boy defended, sticking up for the girl.

Meanwhile, Star slowly began shifting more and more in her sleep, the sound of voices finally reaching her in her slumbering state, pulling her out of her peaceful dreams. The safe Marco seemed to of noticed this, as he said in a nervous whisper, "Uhhh guys, I think she's starting to wake up."

The others immediately dropped their own conversations as they realized their paranoid counterpart was right, gasping in shock and backing away from the bed. "What do we do? What do we do?" shy Marco said in panic, looking around the room for a hiding spot. In the end he settled for hiding behind the glasses-wearing Marco, most of the others doing the same, all except the rebellious Marco who refused to hide behind anyone like a coward.

Finally, Star woke up completely, sitting up slowly, yawning and stretching, as she rubbed at her tired eyes. "Where am I?" she wondered to herself groggily, looking around at the unfamiliar dark room. That was when her eyes landed on the seven figures hovering close to her bed, the light from the doorway casting shadows on them, giving them a creepy look. She let out a startled scream, causing the boys to jump.

"Uhh, hi," the lead one said, nervously, giving her an awkward smile and holding up a hand in greeting. "We-"

"Mega Narwhal Blast!" Star screamed, not giving the boy a chance to explain himself, as she instinctively held out her wand at the group of creeps.

"No, no, no! Wait, wait, wait!" the boy shouted, but it was too late as a giant shining narwhal appeared from nowhere, causing all the boys to scream in alarm, before it slammed into them. The next thing they knew, they were all thrown back out of their bedroom, still screaming, and into the cramped hallway.

Somehow all of them managed to remain standing, but poor clumsy Marco found himself dangling over the staircase, every other Marco pressed against him, coming dangerously close to falling over the lingering perch, his arms waving wildly as he tried to keep balance. But the hooded boy lost his fight against the force of gravity and the inevitable, as he and the others all tumbled down the stairs together, the narwhal following right after.

Star could hear the racket from the bedroom, a loud set of banging and cries of pain resulting as they painfully clattered against the wooden steps on their way down to the first story floor. Meanwhile, Star could only stare wide eyed at the opened doorway, still holding her smoking wand up, a look of fear on her face as she realized her mistake. Finally, the clattering stopped, the room going unbearably quiet for Star, the girl jumping off the bed and running out into the hallway. She leaned over the railing looking down at the pile of limbs and regret waiting at the bottom of what had probably felt like a really long staircase, the narwhal, of course, laying on top of them all, crushing the houses residents under its massive weight.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she cried, running down the steps two at a time, going over to try and help the poor unsuspecting victims. She used her wand to reverse the spell, diminishing the heavy narwhal from existence. "I-I can't believe I just did that!" she exclaimed, guiltily. "I guess I just saw you all there and I just reacted- anyways I'm sooooo-"

Star's apology was cut short as she suddenly took notice of the seven boys in front of her, who were all rubbing at their different sore limbs from the rough fall. She was surprised to find that all of them looked unbelievable similar, apart from a few differences in their appearance here and there, the boys seemed to be exactly the same person, even down to the cute little mole under all their left cheeks.

But she heard one of the boys moan in pain and she quickly shook her head, snapping herself out of her stupor, as she said to him, "Oh right, here let me help you." She hauled him to his feet, the boy opening his eyes and staring into the face of his rescuer. That was when the boy's face flushed, turning a brighter shade of red than his hoodie and his body began shaking uncontrollably. Star noticed this and asked in concern, "Are you okay?"

"I-I-I-I-" the boy squeaked out, unable to answer the worried princess, before he lowered his head so Star could no longer see his face. Star recognizing him being overcome with embarrassment mercifully released his arm, the boy immediately pulling away and hiding behind the nearest available look-alike, pulling his hoodie further and further over his eyes. The boy he had chosen, who wore a black leather jacket, stared at her with an icy glare, Star feeling the room grow colder at the hard look.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare him," Star apologized. She looked around the room at the equally weary and angry faces glaring back at her and she giggled nervously. "Sooo, are you guys all like... brothers or something?" she risked, hoping to break the ice.

"Actually we-" one of them started, but he was interrupted as one of them jumped to their feet in a panic, clapping a hand over his mouth.

"Don't answer that!" he screamed, pulling the boy a step further away from her, Star taking note that this boy was wearing a helmet and safety vest. "She broke into our house, remember?! And she just used magic, so she must be some kind of witch!"

"I'm not a witch!" Star said, sounding quite offended at the accusation.

"Then how could you make all those weird and crazy creatures by using that stick thing?" the first boy asked, finally removing the hand from his mouth, though he sounded far less suspicious than the others, sounding almost mystified by Star's magical capabilities, his eyes shimmering with intrigue. He wore his hoodie around his waist, Star noticed.

"Well first of all it's called a wand," she explained waving the object around a bit in her hand, which caused the helmeted boy to flinch and duck for cover behind his friend. "And secondly it's because I..." Star stopped mid-sentence, not sure if she should tell them about her true identity yet or not. "...I just can, okay," she finished weakly, crossing her arms and giving them all a sour expression. "But that doesn't make me a witch."

"Witttccchhh," the smiling boy whispered loudly to the boy next to him.

Star huffed. "I'm not a witch, I'm a magic princess, okay?!" she said, angrily. Her eyes went wide as she realized what she just said, the others all looking at her with mixed levels of confusion and surprise.

"Wait what?" the glasses-wearing boy asked in shock.

"Uhhh nothing," Star said quickly trying to dodge the subject. "I didn't say anything."

"Yes you did, you just said you're a princess," another one of the boys argued, this one looking far messier and unkempt, in comparison to the others that is.

"Nope, no princesses here," Star answered anxiously. "Just a normal, ordinary, non-princess girl who can use a magic wand is all." She chuckled nervously, sweat dripping down her face. The boys all gave her disbelieving looks.

"Rigggghhht," the leathered teen huffed in anger, rolling his eyes. "Well whoever you are, just get out of our house already." He sharply pointed a finger to the still-gaping entrance to the home.

"Wait you guys can't kick me out!" Star cried, her eyes pleading as she held the wand up to her face.

"Uhhh, pretty sure we can," the glasses-wearing boy stated. "Considering you broke in."

"Yeah and you ruined our door," the suspicious boy added, still hiding behind one of the others. He sighed, shaking his head in disgrace. "We just got that fixed too after the last person who destroyed it."

"Hey I said I was sorry," the disheveled of the set shouted, defensively.

"No, no, wait, wait," Star said, rushing over to the entrance. She waved her wand over the empty frame as a new door appeared magically in its place, looking the same as the last one. "See, all better." She chuckled nervously, giving them an anxious smile, and she took solace as some of the boys faces seemed to soften a little, though not much. "If you let me stay I swear I'll- I'll make it up to you," she added.

"How?" the suspicious boy asked.

"Uhhh, well maybe I can, ummm, help clean your house," she started, before looking around the spotless living room, as the others raised their eyebrows at her and she sighed. "Oh right, well there has to be something I can do." The boys still didn't seem convinced, so she clapped her hands together in a pleading gesture, looking at them with the saddest puppy dog look she could. "I'll think of something, just please don't kick me out! Please, please, please."

Everyone was silent for a moment and Star held a breath as they all looked amongst each other with varying levels of skepticism, none of them looking sure about letting the girl stay. That was until, the final of the boys stepped out, walking over to the girl and putting an arm around her to show he was on her side.

"Oh wait, don't tell us you actually trust her," the grumpy one said, harshly.

The boy nodded his head, puffing his chest out to show his resolve.

"But we don't know anything about her," the safe one added.

The boy shrugged as if to say, 'So?'

"We don't even know her name," the glasses-wearing teen said wearily.

"Well I don't know any of your names, either," Star pointed out.

"Then how about this," the hyper one suddenly spoke up. "If you tell us your name then we'll tell you ours." He looked around at all the others. "That sounds fair, right?"

"I guess," the cautious one muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"No," the leathered teen snapped.

"Great!" the happy one exclaimed, ignoring the other two. He turned to Star with an eager expression, impatiently waiting for her to tell them her true identity. Though, Star was grateful two boys had stuck up for her, they had just put her on the spot, leaving her no alternative for staying. She either told them the truth or get thrown out into the dark woods, meaning she had to make a decision... and fast.

"Okay fine," she sighed, giving up. "My name is Star White," she said, a bit more perkily.

The boys all gasped in shock at that. "As in... Princess Star White?" the glasses-wearing boy muttered in disbelief. "The heir to the throne, Princess Star White."

"The one from the royal scrolls," the perky one spoke up, holding up the paper in question, pointing to it.

"Yep. That's me," Star replied, proudly. "Though those things do tend to over exaggerate some things," she added, rolling her eyes.

"Wow, so you are a magical princess!" the hyper boy exclaimed, his eyes shining with joy. The others also looked quite overjoyed by the revelation, smiling amongst each other, all except for the rebellious teen, who still looked far from convinced and the safe kid who continued to cast weary glances her way.

"I can't believe I'm really meeting you for real!" the perky one continued, as he shot her a mind-numbingly wide smile. "I've always wanted to meet you! I've read all the stories about you!You sounded so amazing and cool!"

Star smiled, finding delight in the boys praise, feeling her cheeks warm up. "Thanks," she said, returning the smile with one of her own. She was shocked though as all the boy's mouths dropped open, Star looking between them with confusion for a moment. "What?" she asked.

"Your... cheeks," the leader said, blinking.

Star put a hand to her cheek to see what all the fuss was about, finally noticing that her body had once again reacted to her emotions, as the hearts resurfaced onto her cheeks, beating in time to her pulse. "Oh yeah," she said, nonchalantly. "They tend to do that sometimes. No big deal."

"So then its true," the safe one whispered, mystified. "You really are Princess Star."

"But what are you doing out here in the middle of the woods?" the klutzy boy asked.

"Welllll," Star said, sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's kind of a long story."

"Try us," the leader said.

So Star told them the whole story, telling them every little detail of her day, finding the seven boys surprisingly easy to talk to, as she found herself rambling on and on about how big of a jerk her step-mother was, the boys all just listening in a saddened silence, even the previously suspicious one looking more and more sympathetic of the girl. Only the rebellious teen seemed unaffected by the tale, as he had resided to sulking in the corner, casting glares at the others every so often, while the rest just watched the girl intensely as she finished up her story. "And then I saw your cottage and decided to see if anyone was there, and I, uhh, accidentally knocked your door down, and then I fell asleep, and then you all came back and woke me up and then, well... you know the rest."

"Wowww," the clumsy boy said, in disbelief of the whole, crazy tale. "That's... horrible."

"I can't believe the queen would do that," glasses-wearing boy said, softly, looking at her woefully. "I'm so sorry, Star."

The mute boy put a hand on her shoulder, looking at her with sad eyes, trying to relay his sympathy to her without being able to speak.

"Yeah, you're just so cool and fun," the hyper boy said, his face an uncharacteristic frown. "Why would anyone want to hurt you?"

"Thanks guys, that's so sweet of you," Star said, giving them each a grateful smile.

"But being attacked by a monster!" the cautious one said, his eyes wide with fear. "And with no monster repellant, you must have been so scared!"

"Not really," Star said, bravely. "Buff Frog is actually pretty nice. I'm just lucky she didn't hire that Rusticore guy, now he would have been trouble." She rolled her eyes at the thought of the ruthless huntsmen she had heard stories about.

"Well, if you really need a place to stay then..." the leader said, looking around at the other boys for their input, silently consulting them on their opinion on the matter. But seeing the resolve in their eyes he took a deep breath and said, "...we'd be happy to let you lay low here for a while." The rest of the boys all nodded in agreement, wanting to help keep the young princess safe from her cruel step-mother, even the suspicious, cautious boy looking open to the idea.

"Really?!" Star exclaimed in joy.

"Yeah," the boy said. "We'd all like you to stay."

From the corner, the leathered teen loudly cleared his throat, clearly trying to draw their attention and the four-eyed boy frowned, before correcting himself, "Well, most of us would like you to stay." He shot his look-alike a glare, before turning back to Star. "But he's outnumbered, so it doesn't matter."

"Awww, you guys," she gushed, her smile never wider. "Hugs!" she cried, sweeping the six boys into a bone-crushing hug, not noticing as their faces blushed from the act. "This is gonna be so amazing!"

Suddenly a thought came to her, as she finally released the bright faced boys from the hug. "But wait, I just realized you never told me any of your names."

The boys all looked amongst each other for a second, Star confused why they were all suddenly so hesitant. "What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at them.

Finally, the safe one said, "Our names are... Marco Diaz."

Star blinked, taking a second to process that information. "Okay wait, wait," Star said, in clear confusion. "So your parents named _all_ of you Marco, cause that's a little weird."

"What? No, no!" the cautious Marco exclaimed immediately, realizing she didn't understand what they were getting at.

"We don't just share the same name," the happy Marco helpfully supplied. "We're all the same person!"

"Whhhhaaat?!" Star shouted, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Well we used to be, until a few years ago a witch cursed us," four-eyed Marco explained. "Or me, I guess," he added, rolling his eyes, unsure, always finding explaining this super confusing, before continuing. "Anyways, she split us into different versions of the original Marco's personalities because she claimed I could never learn to live with myself." He smiled before he said, "But it turns out I'm surprisingly easy to get along with."

"Yeah!" the others exclaimed in unison, all simultaneously giving each other high-fives.

Star was more then taken aback by the unbelievable news, but she found the strength through her confused and befuddled mind to ask, "But why would she do that?"

"We don't remember," the klutzy boy responded, sadly, the others hanging their heads in shame. "As a part of the curse she also stole all our memories of our life before."

"And unless we can find a way to reverse the curse," the smiling Marco added, his voice uncharacteristically tight. "Then we're stuck like this..." He gestured to the other look-alikes around him. "...with no memories of who we were."

Star looked sadly between each of the Marcos, seeing the pain in each of their eyes, even the grumpy teen, looking hurt, staring intensely at his feet, his smug grin one of depression. Star thought for a second, wanting to find a way to help the boys, her own eyes slowly lowering to the floor. Until she spotted her wand and a small smile lit up her face as an idea came to her, light bulbs appearing on her cheeks for just a second. "Maybe I can find a way to fix your curse," Star supplied.

The Marcos all looked at her in shock, stunned by the kind offer. "Really?" the leader asked, surprised she would do something for a group of boys she just met. "You think you could?"

"Well it's worth a try at least," Star said, with a shrug. "My spell book has a lot of spells that talk about reversing curses maybe I can find one to help you guys."

"You would do that for us?" the safe boy asked, putting a hand to his chest, feeling guilty for judging the girl so harshly when they first met, as his brown eyes shimmered with gratitude.

"Sure why not?" Star said, with a shrug. "I mean since you guys are letting me stay here it's the least I could do."

"Awww, you are so nice!" the happy boy exclaimed, his joy returning full force as he swept the girl into a tight hug, the mute Marco doing the same. Star felt her cheeks flush for a second, no doubt her hearts returning for a brief instant, before they released her.

Star was surprised as the blushing Marco stepped closer to her, his cheeks still bright red and his hands twitching at his side. "Yes, Marco, what is it?" she asked.

"U-Um," the boy stuttered, his eyes jumping around the room as he tried not to be nervous from the princess' stare focusing on him. "I-I-I just wanted to say thank you for-for helping us out."

Star just smiled sweetly at him, happy he had finally spoken to her, those being his first words since they had met, celebrating the occasion with a quick hug, the boy going stiff at her soft touch. "Your welcome," she said, cheerily, nuzzling his hot cheek for a second. Finally, she mercifully released him and he quickly went back to the other Marcos, hiding amongst their numbers, as his face flushed with more and more blood.

"Well welcome to our home then, Star," the leader of the Marcos said, flashing her a warm smile.

"This is gonna be so much fun!" the joyful one exclaimed.

"Happy to have you here," the safe one said, as well.

While the quiet boy gave her a thumbs up.

"Umm, thanks Marco...s," she said, looking between them a little hesitantly, not sure how to address the very similar boys.

"Your welcome," they all said simultaneously and Star looked between them wide-eyed.

"Okay well, this is just getting confusing," Star said, crossing her arms in annoyance. She thought for a second, before saying, "Hey, I know, how about I come up with nicknames for all of you so I don't get you guys mixed up."

The Marcos looked between one another, before shrugging, all except for the rebellious teen, who just continued to scowl unhappily.

"Eh, why not?" the glasses-wearing Marco said. "Having all of us being just Marco is getting a little old."

Star clapped her hands together once in joy. "Okay then, let's see..."

She looked around at each of the Marcos thoughtfully, tapping her wand to her chin. "Hmmmm," her gaze stopped on one of them and she pointed him out, the bashful boy immediately going beet red and shifting uncomfortably on his feet, looking at anything but Star. "You can be Shy Marco," she said proudly, the newly-christened Shy Marco muttered something under his breath so quiet Star couldn't hear, while trying to bury himself in his hoodie, still hating being the center of attention, hoping she and the others looked away soon. Which she immediately did, turning to the Marco next to him, saying, "And you can be Quiet Marco, since you can't talk and all." Quiet Marco just smiled and gave her a thumbs up to show her he liked the name.

"And you..." Her finger switched to the next Marco, who flinched, going into a karate stance on instinct. "You can be Safe Kid Marco."

The others all chuckled at that, Safe Marco looking annoyed. "Laugh all you want, but there is nothing wrong with being safe," Marco said defensively. He raised a finger into the air, before saying in a lecturing tone, "As a matter of fact-"

"Ooh, ooh, me next, me next!" the smiling Marco interrupted, enthusiastically, pushing Safe Marco out of the way, waving a hand wildly in the air.

"That's an easy one," Star scoffed, smiling brightly. "You are the Fun Marco!"

"Yes!" Marco cheered loudly, pumping a fist into the air. "Fun Marco!" He and Star high-fived, Safe Marco coming up behind them.

"Why is he Fun Marco?" Safe Marco whined. "Being safe can be fun, too."

"Yeah sure it can," the grumpy teen muttered, rolling his eyes.

"At least I'm not a walking disaster area," Safe Marco finished, looking over at the particular Marco knowingly.

"Hey that's not fair," the boy in question said. "I'm not that bad." He huffed, slamming his back into the wall behind him in frustration. But unfortunately, he had done so rougher than he had intended, causing a large crack to appear in the wall, which slowly crawled it's way up to the shelf above him, causing it to split in half and drop the pots and pans it held right on the unsuspecting Marco's head. A loud crash echoed through the cozy cottage, most of the Marcos and Star grimacing at the loud banging and rattling of the kitchenware hitting the floor, as well as the pained screams of the unfortunate teen. Once the dust had settled and the noisy clattering had ceased, the group just stared at the Marco who lay on the floor, groaning, rubbing his sore head, his bruised body covered in the metal pans. "Oww," he groaned.

"Aw, you poor thing," Star said sympathetically, walking over and offering him a hand up, which he eagerly accepted.

Once Star had pulled him to his feet and dusted his ripped hoodie off, Marco said in a sheepish tone, "So let me guess." He pointed to himself. "Clumsy Marco."

Star chuckled nervously. "Hehe, uhh, anyways, who's left," she said quickly, dodging the question and scooting away from the now annoyed Marco.

"That would be me and Mr. Brooding over there," the glasses-wearing Marco stated, pointing behind him at the still-scowling teen.

"Well I've got the perfect name for you..." Star said, in a sing-song voice, pocking him once in the chest, while flashing him a wide grin.

"And I think I know what it is," Marco replied in the same tone, giving her a knowing look, smiling back at her.

"Dorky Marco!" Star screamed excitedly, Marco's smile immediately dropping.

He adjusted his glasses, saying matter-of-factly, "Uhh, I prefer the term Dr. Marco."

"PhD," Fun Marco added, raising a finger into the air.

"What does the PhD stand for?" Star asked the Marcos.

"Pretty Handsome Dude," all of the Marcos said at once, causing Star to giggle.

"Okay then, Dr. Marco it is," she said, flashing the boy a bright smile, Dr. Marco feeling his heart pound in response, fairly sure some of his brain cells fried from the adorable look. But before Dr. Marco could stutter a response, the last remaining Marco pushed him out of the way, closing in on the girl.

"Guess that just leaves me," he said, giving the girl a smirk. "So what's it gonna be, princess?"

Star didn't like the way he said 'princess' but, she ignored it saying in a far-too-cheerful tone, "I think we should call you Grumpy Marco."

All of the other Marcos burst into laughter at that, the leather-wearing Marco giving them each a chiding glare. "That's the perfect fit for you!" Fun Marco exclaimed, in between fits of laughter.

"Oh, shut up!" Grumpy Marco hissed, before turning back to the annoying girl, only to be surprised by the smug look she was giving, almost rivaling one of his own. _Touche_ , the boy thought.

"Uh uh, no way am I going by that," was what the boy actually said, in the harshest tone he could manage.

"But you are a bit of a grump sometimes," Dr. Marco pointed out.

Grumpy Marco scowled at his nerdy counterpart. "I'm not a grump, I'm a bad boy," he explained with annoyance. "If anything you can call me that."

"Whatever you say, Grumpy Marco," Star soothed, patting him on the shoulder, the boy giving her a narrowed glare.

"So," Dr. Marco spoke up before the angered boy could say anymore, literally getting between the two before an argument could break out. "Now that everyone has been properly named, how about we all hit the sack and let our new guest get some rest."

"Whatever," Bad Boy Marco mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"That sounds awesome," Star screamed, sounding as enthusiastic as ever. "And I have just the spell for the job." She held out her wand, screaming, "Super Glitter-"

"Wait!" Safe Marco interrupted in a panic, running over and grabbing onto his wrist. "That's not safe!"

"Aww, relax, Safe Marco," Star said soothingly, finding his concern sweet. "I'm a professional."

"No, I mean, that for the time being you should try not to use your wand very much," Safe Marco explained.

"What, why?" Star demanded, looking confused.

"You said yourself, the queen is looking for you so it's best if you try and lay low for the time being," Safe Marco explained.

"But there's no one around for at least a hundred miles," Dr. Marco pointed out, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

"Well you know," Safe Marco mumbled, looking away from them all and sheepishly tapping his fingers together. "Just to be... safe."

Bad Boy Marco rolled his eyes. "Of course."

Star sighed loudly. "I guess your right," she said, depressed. But the smile returned a second later in full force as she shrugged off the bad news. "Oh well, so I guess I'll just have to find a place to sleep here for tonight." She looked around the room, thoughtfully humming to herself.

Quiet Marco elbowed Dr. Marco, giving the boy a knowing look as if urging him to speak up. "All right, all right," he whispered quietly. He turned to the princess saying in a far louder voice, "Actually Star, why don't you take our room for tonight?"

Star cocked her head cutely to the side, asking, "Really?"

"Really?" Bad Boy Marco sighed at the same time.

"Yeah sure, why not?" Dr. Marco said with a shrug.

Star shook her hands in front of her, saying, "Oh guys, you don't have to do that."

"Nonsense we insist," Dr. Marco pushed, giving the girl an encouraging smile, all the rest of the Marcos, save for Bad Boy Marco, all nodding in agreement.

Star bit her lip, still not sure about taking advantage of their hospitality like that. "Wellll, if you're sure," she said, hesitantly.

Star felt a hand on her shoulder looking beside her to see Quiet Marco, who gave a short encouraging nod and she smiled gratefully at him. But the moment ended, as soon as it began as Fun Marco quickly zipped between the two, practically pushing the startled Star up the stairs. "Don't worry about a thing, Star. You just go and get your beauty sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be awesome!"

"And be careful on your way up," Safe Marco pitched in as Star started up the stairs. "One of the boards is loose."

"I can vouch for that," Clumsy Marco said in agreement.

Star smiled as she waved to the seven Marcos, hearts lighting up her cheeks again. "Thanks, Marcos," she said sweetly. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Star!" came the unanimous reply, as the blond made her way to the second floor.

Dr. Marco was startled by a tiny tap on his shoulder, turning around to see Shy Marco. "I have a question," he said softly.

"What's that?" Dr. Marco asked.

"Well, if Star is staying in our room..." Marco held back a blush at the thought. "Then where are we going to sleep?"

None of the Marcos responded to that, as all of their eyes slowly turned to the couch, where a lone pillow sat waiting.

…

Star hummed happily to herself as she ascended the stairs, not hearing the clattering and crashing below, her mind elsewhere. She felt extremely lucky really that the seven Marcos had actually opened up their home to a complete stranger, especially considering how they met. And they all seemed really nice and sweet... well except for maybe Grumpy Marco, but she had no doubt she could wear him down with time.

Yep, she was really looking forward to getting to know them all better. After all, they did seem like a ton of fun. And with them around, Star would never have to worry about being bored ever again. She wondered what it was going to be like living with seven bizarrely one dimensional teenage boys. One thing was for sure, it certainty wouldn't be easy and possibly a little strange from this point on, but Star couldn't wait to see what kind of crazy, wild adventures awaited her and the seven Diaz boys.

 **Hope you all enjoyed! I have some more ideas for this one, which is why I left the ending so open, because Star living with seven adorable different versions of Marco is too amazing to resist! It's gonna be some side stories and stuff, just Star getting to know them and going on some traditional Starco adventures so looking for to those! But not next, next will be a new princess, because I didn't decide to call this _Star is Snow White and Nothing Else._ Haha.**

 **Anyways, I can't say which one will be next but I will say I'm not going to do these in any order or anything so Cinderella will not be next, at least I don't think, not ruling anything out, I've actually started several of them but you'll just have to wait and see. So let me know what you guys thought of this one and if you are looking forward to more from this AU. Also which of the Marcos was your favorite? I'm really curious, since I don't have a favorite. *coughs, Quiet Marco, coughs***

 **So see you all next time, love you Stardom, bye!**

 **Now on to the Reviews!**

 **WaterDragonMaverick- Thanks, glad you are enjoying! When I came up with this idea I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas of how Star would totally "Star things up" in the different Disney Movies since she isn't your traditional princess. Haha! And yeah I'm totally gonna make that, because I can see her and Mermaid Jackie being friends too, haha! Thanks for the idea!**

 **acosta peroz jose ramiro- Thanks, I know it was short but I enjoyed and I hoped others would like it, too! I will, thanks for the support!**

 **Sugar- Oh yeah, glad you like this one! Yeah, I can't resist making these stories as adorable as I can! Most of the times it's a total accident, haha! Thank you so much, fellow writer, hope you enjoy this one as well!**

 **7lights13darkness- Hey look at you leaving a review right after I posted! As compared to me who took like several months to leave you one! *sighs* Oh well, anyways I'm so glad you thought it was so funny, I purposely didn't tell you everything so you would get more enjoyment out of it! Also thank you Star and Marco for keeping him on the straight and narrow.**

 **Star: Your welcome!**

 **Marco: Anytime!**

 **Thanks 7L13D, I really enjoyed the review!**


	3. Mother Knows Best (Rapunzel)

Mother Knows Best (Star is Rapunzel AU)

 **Hey everyone! Long time no see, for this story at least. Sorry for the super big delay, life's just been really busy lately and I've been feeling pretty stretched thin. But hey, a new one is here, so that's good, right? Anyways I just wanted to say thanks so much for sticking with me and supporting me even through all the delays and everything. Your favorites, follows, and reviews mean the world to me. So I won't keep you and I'll just let my boy Marco take over the narration... go ahead Marco.**

 **Marco: Okay I'm on it.**

 **Well, still don't forget the disclaimer, though. It's kind of important.**

 **Marco: Oh okay, good point... _Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Disney and Daron Nefcy. Tangled is owned by Disney. All rights go to them._ How was that?**

 **Good. *Gives thumbs up***

 _This is the story of how I died... oh wow, sorry, that was way more intense then I thought it was going to be. D-Don't stop reading! This is actually a really fun story, I swear!_

 _Marrrrcoooo, hurry up! Get to the part about me already!_

 _Umm, right, sorry Star. Okay, let's see, where was I? *ahem* Once upon a time..._

 _Ugh, boring! Do you want to put the readers to sleep? Start off by telling them something really cool, something that's gonna draw them in. Like a... a monster fight!_

 _Hey, who's telling this story here?_

 _Sorry._

 _Okay anyways, this is the story of a beautiful young princess with magic golden hair that had the power to heal the sick and wounded-_

 _That's me!_

 _Star, shhh! For years, she lived locked away in a tower, hidden deep in the woods, kept there by an evil and controlling woman, who wanted nothing more than to horde the girl's gift for herself._

 _Yeah, cause she's a meanie!_

 _That and so she could live forever._

 _And also cause she's a meanie._

 _And the name of this princess was Rapunzel... I mean, Starunzel! Ugh, I mean Star._

 _Geez, Marco. You really don't know what you're doing, do you?_

 _No, I'm sorry._

 _Aw, that's okay. How about we just start by showing what happened the day we first met so we don't confuse the readers anymore than we already have._

 _Yeah okay, that sounds good._

 _Great!_

 _Soooo, how do we do that exactly?_

 _Simple. We use the mystic and magical page break._

 _Page wha-_

…

Star was excited, practically racing through her chores that morning, cleaning every inch of the well-kept tower she called home. What would normally take her fifteen minutes to complete, today only took her a mere ten, which was quite the accomplishment for her dragging around seventy feet of long, blond, and sometimes unruly hair wherever she went. Though the downside of this was of course, that she now had the rest of the day to herself with literally nothing to do forcing her to find some other way to fight off the horrible enemy she was in almost constant battle with...boredom, but today she didn't really mind too much, her excitement over the special day helping to keep her mind occupied.

Once she was finished with the last of the cleaning, she looked around at the neat and tidy room in satisfaction, grinning with pride as every last inch of the tower seemed to be sparkling. "There, perfect, if I do say so myself," she said boastfully, adding, "which I do." She giggled at her own joke, while putting away her broom.

"Hey Janna!" she called to the ceiling of the tower, which was dark and not very well-lit. "Jan! Come on Janna, wake up," she tried again, with still no reply. She frowned, before grabbing a strand of blond hair, flinging it out like some sort of lasso, where it wrapped around a lever that was normally just out of reach for her. She gave her hair a yank, pulling the lever down and opening up one of the windows above, lighting up the scaffolding of the tower, as well as the small purple bat currently snoozing up there.

Janna flinched as her small, fluffy body was encased in the hideous light, keeping her eyes glued shut, as she wrapping her wings tightly around herself to shield her from the intense beams, before going back to sleep. Star blinked, before groaning as her only friend ignored her, her cheeks puffing up cutely in anger. She wasted no time as she grabbed a bigger strand of hair and threw it up toward the beam the small bat was sleeping under. It flew over the beam before wrapping around the beam next to it, Star now able to use her hair as a rope as she climbed her own blond locks up to where Janna slept.

Once she was next to her animal friend, she gently poked her with her finger over and over again waiting for a reaction, a wide smile spread across her face. "Come on, sleepyhead," she said softly, as she tried to gently awaken her bat friend.. "Wakey-wakey."

Finally, Janna sighed, unfolding her wings and giving her a blank and tired stare, clearly wanting to know why she was being woken up so early in the morning. "Now don't give me that look, Janna," Star defended herself, seeing the intent behind her friend's piercing green eyes. "It's not my fault you stayed up all night." She crossed one arm across her chest, while the other still had to be dedicated to holding onto her hair to keep from falling, turning away from the bat with a pout, closing her eyes and refusing to look at her.

But after a few seconds, she slowly peeked open an eye and could see out of the corner of her eye that the look on the bat's face persisted, a small scowl on her fuzzy features. Star groaned in exasperation, before angrily stating, "Okay fine! I know you sleep during the day and everything, but c'mon, tomorrow is my birthday and I don't want to spend it all alone." She gave the bat a pouting look, her lip quivering cutely knowing Janna couldn't resist the stare she had spent the last fourteen years perfecting.

Janna gave a small huff, rolling her green eyes before flying off of her perch and to the floor with a look of annoyance.

"Yay!" Star cheered, pumping a fist into the air, as she slid down her hair to the ground, excited her friend would be with her on the very big day. Once she was on the ground, she asked her friend, "So what should we do first?" She didn't even bother to wait for a reply as she began listing off potential activities to fill time in a nearly sing-song voice. "Playing guitar, knitting, cooking, puzzles, darts, baking, oh I guess that's probably the same as cooking, huh? Haha, umm, well we could also try some pottery or ventriloquy or candle making, I could try painting if I could find a spot that I haven't already painted on. Hmm? Oh, oh, oh, or we could re-re-reread those books I have, what do you think?"

Once she was done, Janna just gave her a one of her bored looks that said, 'I-don't-really-care'.

"Huh, you're right," Star said thoughtfully. "We'll do them all!" she declared at the top of her lungs, pointing a finger in the air, dramatically.

Janna just sighed again, thinking it was way too early to be doing anything right now.

…

Meanwhile, in the nearby kingdom of Corona, the whole town was teeming with excitement and lively chatter on that lovely morning. Townsfolk were already going about their daily work with more vigor than usual and the streets were filled with the sound of children's laughter and general merriment. Everyone was in high spirit, the air itself practically electrified with jubilant energy, as all were happily anticipating the festival that would be the following day. Preparations had been underway for weeks, streamers and decorations hung up all over the busy streets, fluttering freely in the breeze and proudly showing off the beautiful logo of the kingdom: a purple flag with a bright, golden sun. This served as a constant reminder to the townsfolk of what was to come and the anticipation many were feeling was close to bursting at this point.

But one such individual was free of any feelings of merriment that plagued the rest of the kingdom, as he looked down on the people below with an impassive look. He was more focused on the work that had to be done to care about some silly festival and besides he would be long gone by that point.

He stood high on the roof of the large castle in the center of town, keeping a close eye on the guards that patrolled the perimeter, none the wiser to the teen's presence and he smiled to himself. Idiots. He took a moment from his precarious position to stretch, mentally and physically preparing himself for what was about to happen, letting out a calming breath. The boy had tanned skin and brown, spiked hairs (which he kept styled at all times) brown eyes and a mole just under his left cheek. He wore a white long-sleeved shirt with a red vest over on top of it and a brown belt hugging his mid-section firmly. The sleeves were rolled up to above his elbows on his shirt and a satchel hung loosely over his shoulder. He had on light brown pants, which were tucked into black, hunting boots.

A gentle breeze blew up against him, causing a shiver to crawl up his spine which he ignored. It was bound to happen being this high up. All he had to say was thank goodness he didn't have a fear of heights. Behind him, he heard a strangled squeak and he turned to see his two accomplices behind him, one tall and thin and the other short and fat. The thin one was tightly hugging his partner in a death grip, shaking as he looked at the ground below. "Do we have to be this high up?" the teen asked in a nasally voice.

"Can't be helped, Alfonso," the boy in red shrugged. "This is the easiest way in. The higher up we are the less the guards look."

"Marco's right, Al," the third boy, Ferguson, agreed, pushing his friend off of him, causing him to shriek in fear and Marco cringed, glad they were too high up to be heard by the passing guards. "The last thing we need is to get caught stealing from royalty," the chubby one added.

"Yeah and with that in mind we better hurry, just in case someone does happen to look up and see us," the thief in red, Marco Diaz, said, before he recklessly jumped off the side of the roof, sliding down its tiled side and landing on the side of one of the towers with a barely audible thud. Ferguson followed quickly after, with an anxious and fear stricken Alfonso following hesitantly after, trying to ignore the long, fatal fall beneath him.

The three boys began making their way slowly and carefully around the side of the tower, leaping from tower to tower, Marco in the lead of his friends, jumping and maneuvering his way around expertly. This wasn't his first time stealing from another person, but his was the biggest and most satisfying job of his criminal career. If he pulled this job off right he would be set for life, even after splitting it three ways with his cohorts.

He did question bringing these two along, their skills as thieves not anything too impressive, but he couldn't pull this job off on his own and they were the only ones he trusted enough to help him, knowing anyone else would stab him in the back and take off with the goods in a heartbeat. He was the one who had gotten them into this life after all, asking them to tag along with him on jobs when he had been just getting his start as a thief. He could tell that they weren't too interested in it in the same way he was, going along with his schemes more out of obligation from being his friends than actual want to engage in criminal acts. Still, they never turned down any of his offers and this job was no different, so he was fine with cutting the share with his two long-time partners.

The three finally reached their desired destination, Alfonso at this point panting and shuddering all over with fear. Marco and Ferguson quickly opened a small hatch in the roof, revealing the throne room, where about a dozen guards stood around a small pedestal. On it lay the object the three thieves had been seeking, the lost princess's crown, lying preserved and safe on a soft, purple pillow. It was made of pure gold, intricately crafted with white diamond's embedded into its top, as well as several rubies that made up the bottom half of the priceless prize.

Marco took a moment to marvel at the beautiful crown, while his two companions began tying a long, thick rope down beside him. He released a slow, breathy sigh, still unable to look away from the golden headpiece. But he was quickly pulled back into the moment as he felt Ferguson and Alfonso now tying the other end of the rope around his waist. He lifted up his arms allowing them to do their job much easier and waited patiently for them to finish. The two took their time making sure that the rope would be secure but also cause no discomfort to their friend, tying it as tight as they dared without hurting him.

Once the rope was properly in place, Ferguson and Alfonso began lowering Marco down into the throne room, making sure to keep a firm and steady hold on the rope as the thief was inched closer and closer to his prize. Marco took slow, even breaths, trying to stay as quiet as possible, not wanting to alert any of the guards to his presence. The large chamber was so unnervingly silent that if a pin were to suddenly drop Marco was sure it would startle every guard in the room. He honestly wondered how someone could tolerate being in the room all day, every day, as their source of earning. It seemed awfully boring. And to the adventurous, thrill-seeking Marco that was like a fate worse than death.

The young thief quickly pushed aside his racing thoughts, focusing instead on the guards themselves, his highly trained eye on alert for any notable or abnormal movements from the bunch that would indicate that they had been discovered. But the guards around him were none the wiser to his presence, their backs to the young thief as their eyes alertly scanned only directly in front of them.

Finally, the boy in red came to a sudden and jerky stop, the pedestal and crown now only a few inches below him and easily within arms reach. He smiled to himself, but made sure to keep a weary eye on the guards as he quickly snatched up the crown, before tucking it safely away in his satchel. _So far so good_ , he thought to himself, giving the rope a tug to let them know to pull him up. _We might actually pull this off without a hitch._

But it seemed the boy had spoken (or rather 'thought') too soon, as he heard a small yell of none other than Alfonso, which sounded like a bombshell going off in the once deafening silence of the throne room, every guard jumping at the echoing noise. Before Marco could react, the boy felt the rope go slack and he was suddenly sent catapulting downward, as they boys above him, for whatever reason, lost their hold. Marco felt his stomach drop and he let out a small yell himself, as his body rushed toward the ground. He crashed into the pedestal on the way down, knocking to over, where it hit the floor with a loud _bang_.

Somehow, Marco was saved from the same happening to him, as Ferguson and Alfonso must have gotten a hold of the rope again, as he was yanked to a stop, his face near centimeters from the ground, the tips of his bangs touching the tiled floor. But all the commotion, of course, attracted a lot of attention, every guard swerving on their heels to see the young criminal suspended precariously from the rope, all of them in shock and disgust at the illegal action that was clearly taking place.

"Hey, stop thief!" one of them shouted angrily, as he and the others gritted their teeth and held out their spears, the sharp tips pointed directly at Marco.

"Pull me up!" Marco shouted above him in a panic, trying to somehow maneuver out of the way of the deadly weapons that now surrounded him on all sides. But the two thieves didn't have to be told twice as they began frantically pulling Marco back up, the dangling thief in just seconds out of the guards (and more importantly their spears) reach and he let a sigh of relief. The guards watched helpless as the intruder was hauled back onto the roof, their anger growing as they shouted up at him, while several ran to go get reinforcements.

Once Marco's was safely back on the roof with his two friends and his feet were once again planted on solid ground, he shot a glare at the two, demanding in a breathless and nerve-wracked tone, "What the heck was that?! Why'd you drop me, now the whole castle knows we're here?!" He began working on untying the thick and intricate knots, tugging relentlessly at the coarse rope in frustration.

"Sorry, Marco, something landed on my shoulder and it scared me," Alfonso apologized sheepishly. "But it was totally a spider or something that was about to bite me," he quickly added in his defense.

"It was a pigeon and no it wasn't," Ferguson corrected, rolling his eyes at his friend.

Marco's eyes narrowed at the nasally teen. "So you just jeopardized one of the most important jobs of our career over a stupid bird," Marco said irritably, the annoyance in his stony gaze unmistakable.

"Uh, apparently," Alfonso muttered guiltily.

The boy in red face-palmed, letting out a infuriated growl as he dragged his hand slowly down his face. But he recovered quickly, as he said to the two in a much calmer tone, "Okay, then, time for 'Plan B'. We need to get out of here and fast. Let's go."

He left no room for arguing as he began making his way down the castletop with no regard for his safety, more focused on getting away quickly than bothering to take things slow. He hopped from tower to tower and ran across perilous scaffolds without even looking to make sure his feet were in a good position to do so. Ferguson and Alfonso, to their credit, kept up with his quick and reckless pace, though the latter looked terrified the whole time, fighting off the panic attack that was slowly building up inside him.

Eventually the three were able to make it off of the castle, jumping from one of the balcony's onto the roof of one of the nearby houses, Alfonso stumbling slightly and looking paler than a ghost from the long drop. Marco wasted no time though, as he slid down the roof, landing on a nearby awning, doing a flip in the air, before tucking himself into a roll as he hit the stony sidewalk. Ferguson and Alfonso, on the other hand, carefully made their way over to the side of the building, dropping down onto the awning, before sliding down the poles using them to hold the thing up.

Marco rose to his feet, waiting until his companions were both down before leading them into a race through town, several guards already racing out of the gates of the castle and chasing after them, spears in hand. Marco dodged his way around the traffic on the streets, civilians screaming and frantically moving out of the way to avoid being knocked over, in total confusion and disarray over what was happening around them.

Soon the gates to the city were in sight, the bridge that would lead them into the forest and their freedom within reach. Marco smiled, before slowing his pace enough to allow Ferguson and Alfonso to run past him, knocking a cart of apples over, ignoring the shout of alarm from the seller, causing fruit to tumble into the road behind them. He hoped this would stall the guards long enough to give them enough time to escape.

He was rewarded with the sound of a scream and a crash behind him and the boy picked up his pace even more. As he and his companions ran out of the gates to town and across the long bridge, they all began laughing in victory, all quite overjoyed with their success.

"We did it, guys!" Marco shouted at the top of his lungs. He let out a loud chuckle, before adding, "Today is a very good day!"

…

"Today is a very good day, Janna!" Star stated to her bat friend, one musical montage and several dozen time-wasting activities later, still just as giddy and hyper as earlier. Nothing seemed to be able to deter Star's enthusiasm that day, not even the dreaded clutches of boredom, but unfortunately Star's peppiness was not shared as Janna just lay on the girl's shoulder looking utterly dissatisfied with life. But the young blond didn't notice this either, as she looked up at her newly constructed masterpiece with increased satisfaction. "I mean just look at that beautiful painting, I'm a true artist," Star bragged proudly, puffing out her chest and striking a dramatic pose. "When mom sees this she'll be sure to let me go see the floating lights."

Janna's gaze slowly shifted to the picture, not sure if she quite agreed. It was a terrible looking stick version of Star with goofily large eyes looking up at small white dots that Janna assumed were supposed to be the floating lights. And, because it was Star, she had also needlessly added in a lopsided skull and a smudged picture of a spider wearing a top hat floating in the air around her. All in all the pitiful excuse for art looked like it had been drawn by a four year old kid, not a soon to be fifteen year old teenager.

It was almost unbelievable that even after all these years living alone inside a tower with nothing but time to practice Star still hadn't gained even a speck of talent in painting whatsoever and the bat would have bet a fortune that the only thing Star's mother was sure to be when she saw it, was confused. Janna barely understood what she was looking at, there was no way her human friend's mother would know what it was supposed to be, as well.

"Well, what do you think?" Star asked, looking to her only friend in anticipation. This was when she finally took notice of her bat friend's clear difference of opinion, adding shamefacedly, "Uhh, sorry I didn't put you in the picture, too. But I kinda ran out of room." The nocturnal mammal would have been offended she hadn't been added onto the picture (terrible as it was), if she actually cared. All she wanted was just to go back to sleep, unable to stop thinking of all the precious daylight that was being wasted. So Janna didn't say a word about how awful it looked and what a crime against true artists and art it was, instead she just shrugged and gave her a look that said, _We-done-now_?

Star sighed dramatically. "Fine, you can go back to napping," Star said rolling her eyes, unable to believe Janna's lack of enthusiasm in all of this. How could she even consider napping on such a monumental occasion? Didn't she realize how amazing and life-changing this was?

But apparently she didn't, as the purple bat just flew up to the ceiling, hanging upside down from one of the pillars that was still in shadow, tucking her wings around her as she drifted off to sleep. Star tried to contain her disappointment as she muttered more to herself than Janna, "Mom will be back soon anyway. Don't want her to know I've been hiding a pet from her all these years."

As if on cue, Star heard a call from outside the window, a familiar voice that the blond instantly knew had to be her mother's. "Star! Are you there, dear? Let down your hair, please?"

"Coming mom!" Star yelled, as she raced over to the window, opening the shutters, before looking down at her mother, waiting patiently below. Lady Eclipsa as she was known to be, had poofy teal hair and a flowing purple dress with small black dress shoes.

"Star, you know I don't like being kept waiting," her mother called up in a warning tone. Star tried not to let this get to her as she hung her hair on a small hook that hung down from the top of the windowsill, before gathering up the rest and quickly flinging it over the side. Her long, blond locks fell gracefully down the entire length of the tower, nearly touching the ground when she was done. Eclipsa moved out of the way to avoid getting hit by the make-shift rope made of her daughter's own incredibly long hair.

Once in reach, Star's mother quickly grabbed the end of the blond locks that were now nearly glowing in the sunlight, and raising it up to be used it as a little foothold for herself. She stepped onto this, before waiting for her daughter to begin pulling her up. And Star wasted no time in doing this, heaving back on her hair and the heavy form that now weighed it down immensely. But Star had had plenty of practice at this and was able to slowly but surely began pulling Eclipsa up the side of the tower, with little to no problem whatsoever, her experience in pulling things up by her hair alone a much more accomplished skill than her artistic ability.

She grunted as she pulled the last bit of distance needed for her mother to step onto the window frame and then safely inside the tower. Star panted heavily as moved to hug her mother, saying in a tired but cheerful voice, "Welcome back, mom."

Eclipsa though just handed her the basket she had brought back, before stepping past her, not even noticing her daughter's show of affection. "Excellent work, Star. Though I think you could have done that a bit faster, hmm?" her mother commented, as she began gazing at herself in the mirror, messing with her hair to make sure it was still the way she wanted it.

Star looked hurtfully down at the basket for a moment before setting it down on the nearest table, racing over to her mother, hopping up and down on the balls of her feet to try and contain her excitement. She quickly asked in a hinting tone, "So mom, do you know what tomorrow is?"

"I believe it's Saturday," her mother replied flatly, still examining herself closely in the mirror.  
Star shook her head saying, "No, no that's not what I meant."

But her mother once again wasn't really listening, her eyes widening as she spotted a gray hair hidden in with the mess of blue locks around it. "Star, dear, we can talk in a moment, first I would love it if you would sing for your mother," Eclipsa said, turning to her daughter with a small smile.

"Oh right, of course," Star said, quickly jumping at the task, rushing over to get everything ready, running and grabbing the chair and stepstool needed, setting them in front of each other. Eclipsa just watched all of this with a blank stare, following her daughter's movements as she sat herself down in the chair Star had brought her. The blond grabbed the hairbrush before running back over to her mom, handing her the brush and laying a thick portion of her hair on her lap, as she plopped down onto her own small seat.

She cleared her throat before singing as quickly as she could the song her mother had taught her. " _Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine. Make the clock reverse bring back what once was mine. Heal what has been hurt, change the fates design. Save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine._ "

As Star did this, her hair lit up golden, trailing all the way down the entire length of her mane. Eclipsa hummed along with the fast pace of the song, seemingly unaffected by how quickly her daughter was going, as she just ran the brush a few times through the glowing locks. The woman felt a deep powerful magic coursing through her veins, a wonderful feeling overcoming her as all at once all her ailments and aches were reversed and healed.

Once Star was done, she quickly jumped up from the chair, grabbing her mother's arm in a tight hug, as she quickly began talking a mile a minute, "So now that that's done, I was going to tell you that tomorrow is kind of a big day and since I know you won't be able to guess, I'm just gonna go ahead and tell you that's its my birthday!"

She smiled widely at her mom as she finished, but her mother didn't seem to react much at all, as she merely said, "Really, so soon?"

"Well, it has been a whole year," Star mumbled under her breath, to her it had felt like she had been waiting forever for this day to come.

"Star, you know what we talked about with the mumbling," her mother scolded, giving her a look, and Star remembered immediately all the previous lectures she had been given about how it was undignified for a young lady to whisper things under her breath and not speak loudly and clearly enough to be heard.

"Sorry, mom," Star hastily apologized, making sure her voice was now loud enough her mother could easily hear it.

"It's alright dear," her mother said, giving her a small hug, before walking toward the kitchen and pawing through the bowl of fruit, looking for something to eat. "So is there anything you wanted for your birthday?" she casually mentioned.

Star sucked in a breath. This would be the hard part, convincing her mom, but she decided to just go for it. "Well, I was thinking," Star said as casually and innocently as possible. "Since I'm turning fifteen tomorrow I thought that it would be a good idea... to maybe go outside."

Star had a wide, awkward smile on her face as she waited for her mother's reaction. Eclipsa stilled, dropping the apple she had chosen back into the bowl, as she turned to her daughter in surprise. "What?" she asked, shocked.

"Not for forever, of course," Star quickly added, seeing her mother's concern. She chuckled nervously saying, "I mean that would be... crazy. But just long enough for you to take me to go see the floating lights."

Now Eclipsa looked even more startled, asking hesitantly, "Floating... lights?"

Star could tell her mom was starting to think she had gone insane so she quickly clarified, "Yeah, y'know the big glowing lights that fill the sky, every year, on my birthday."

"You mean... the stars?" Eclipsa said slowly and Star let out a sharp, frustrated sigh.

"No, not the stars, mom. These are different. Here, let me show you," Star quickly used a length of her hair to pull open a lever on the wall, opening a hatch which sent a flood of light cascading on her drawing, highlighting against the rest of the musty tower. "See," Star said, pointing at the painting. "These things. The big bright things that always appear out of nowhere on my birthday."

Eclipsa looked at the painting in silence for a few moments, her face completely unreadable. "I... see," was all she managed to reply, trying to keep her face calm. She turned to her daughter asking, "And your sure you didn't just dream them?  
"No, I didn't," Star said defensively. "Have you seriously never noticed them before?" When she received no reply she quickly waved this off. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. I see them every year, mom, and I just... really want to know what they are. I want to see them, up close, in person."

"Why do you care so much about these stars, darling?" Eclipsa asked, sounding amused at her daughter's bizarre interest in something seemingly ordinary.

Star's cheeks puffed up some in anger. "First of all, they're not stars. And second of all, I don't know. I just feel like they're meant for me somehow, y'know." Star shrugged not sure how quite to put it into words.

Eclipsa grew very quiet after that, watching her daughter closely as her eyes glazed over in thought. This was very bad. Very, very bad and she knew it. She had to do something. She couldn't let her flower discover the truth. She had to find some way to get her to stay. But how.

"Now, now, darling you know the rules about going outside," she began, stepping closer to her daughter.

Star began to fiddle with a strand of her hair, nervously. "Yes, I know but, I thought maybe we could break the rules, just this once." She gave her mom a sheepish smile, hoping that this would somehow convince her to let her go, though her optimism was beginning to fade.

And to Star's dismay, Eclipsa shook her head, before saying, "The rules exist for a reason, Star. To keep you safe. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out there?"

"Well no," Star admitted, but quickly tried to argue, saying, "But I-"

"Exactly, dear, you don't know," Eclipsa continued, as she walked over to her, placing her hands softly on her shoulders. "But I do. The world outside if full of dangers you couldn't even begin to imagine and you are just not ready to face them yet. You're too naive and the people out there would take advantage of that."

Star looked sadly at her bare feet. "Not to mention what they would do if they discovered the power your hair holds," Eclipsa continued softly, running a hand through Star's hair once.

The blond felt her heart thumping a bit out of control, fear filling her being. Her mother had told her stories of what had happened when she was just a baby. How everyone had wanted to cut her hair and have the power all for themselves, even trying to take her away from her mom and she shuddered at the thought.

Eclipsa pulled Star close in a comforting embrace, as she said worriedly, "I couldn't bare to see you get hurt. It would hurt me if that happened, you know that right?"

"Yes," Star said sadly, feeling all the fight and hope drain from her, leaving her feeling empty.

"Then you are going to listen to your mother and stay put?" Eclipsa asked, waiting to hear the answer.

Star hesitated, but finally sighing saying again, "Yes."

"That's my girl," Eclipsa said, pulling out of the hug to cup her daughter's face in her hands. She gave her gentle kiss on the forehead. But as she pulled away, she saw the pitiful look on her daughter's face and added, "Trust me, Star. I always knows what's best for you."

Star just gave her a half-hearted smile, as her mom gave her cheek a soft pat. "Well I must be going again," Eclipsa said, as she quickly retrieved her basket and then climbed back up onto the window, before taking hold of the still hanging hair. She turned back to her daughter one last time before saying, "I will see you in a bit, my dear. I love you."

With that, Eclipsa quickly began descending her daughter's hair. Star stood perfectly still, waiting until she couldn't feel the tug against her scalp anymore, letting her know her mother was now on the ground and probably heading out of the clearing and into the big, bright world Star was forbidden to see. Once she was sure her mother was out of ear shot, she loudly huffed, flopping herself down on the ground and crossing her arms in front of her, childishly.

She just fumed angrily to herself for a few moments, muttering comments about being trapped there forever, bored out of her mind, and calling her mom a poophead. Finally, Janna flew down and landed on her shoulder, giving her a look with her wide, brown eyes.

Star sighed, rubbing at her eyes as she agreed, "Yeah, that _definitely_ could have gone better."

…

"Hurry their gaining!" Marco shouted over to his two comrades, looking back to make sure they were still with him. To his relief, they were, Ferguson and Alfonso just barely managing to keep up, both panting immensely. But none of them had time to stop as, not a short distance away, the roar of approaching horses could be heard, growing louder by the second.

Marco did his best to evade their pursuers, going between trees that would be too narrow for horses to follow, jumping over fallen trunks, and sliding down steep inclines, but nothing seemed to work. Nothing seemed to be slowing any of them down any and Marco was quickly running out of ideas. If something didn't change soon, they would definitely be captured.

Suddenly, the three thieves all came to an abrupt stop as they reached a dead end. Marco looked up at the rocky cliff in front of them, quickly judging the distance, before turning back to Ferguson and Alfonso. "Okay quick, boost me up!"

The two shared a look with one another, looking unsure. "What?" Marco asked, seeing their hesitation.

"You sure you'll remember to pull us up when you're done?" Ferguson asked, in a half-accusing manner.

Marco looked hurt at the comment. "What? Of course I will. You two are my best friends." The two still looked hesitant and Marco sighed, adding, "Look we don't have time to argue about this, the whole royal army is right on our tail."

As if on cue, they heard a shout followed by the thundering roar of horses racing at full-speed toward them as it grew steadily louder. This finally seemed to convince the two thieves as they quickly formed a human ladder for Marco to climb up, the young man taking care not to step on their hands or faces as he scaled the cliff off of his friends.

Once Marco reached the top and had hauled himself over the ledge, he quickly checked his satchel, before giving a quick glance below, making sure no guards were there yet.

But he heard more guards riding up from around the clifftops and knew they had no time to waste. "Come on, guys! Let's get going!" he shouted before running away at full speed, forgetting the predicament he had left his two friends in.

The two just stared up at the cliff blankly for a moment. "D-Did he just leave us behind... again?" Ferguson asked.

"Yep," Alfonso replied.

They both sighed dejectedly, as they waited to be arrested... again.

…

Marco continued at full sprint though the forest looking back occasionally to check and see if his pursuers were gone or not. Unfortunately for him, they weren't.

There were about four horeses following him, all carrying armed guards dressed in Mewni's traditional golden armor, the lead guard being none other than the captain herself, Kelly, her recognizable blue hair tied up in a bun, most of it covered by her helmet. "Great not her, that's just what I needed," Marco muttered to himself, focusing on the impossible task of outrunning the riders on foot. "Does the universe just hate me or something?" he pondered to himself, as his eyes scanned the area around him, trying to think of a plan.

Finally, an idea came to him, as he grabbed onto a nearby vine, using the momentum to swing himself around the tree before kicking the unsuspecting Kelly off of her horse and instead taking her place. He situated himself better into the fancy saddle, checking back once to make sure the girl was okay. He breathed a mental sigh of relief as he saw she had landed in some bushes, her usually well-kept hair now coated in leaves and sticks, rubbing at her head and glaring daggers of death at him but not looking too injured. Once he knew she was fine, he allowed himself a small laugh of victory as he rode triumphantly away from his honest-working rival.

Kelly gritted her teeth as she watched helplessly as the thief rode away on her own horse and she stood up with a huff. After a few moments the other guards caught up to her, stopping to see if she was hurt, one of them worriedly asking, "Are you okay, Kelly?"

"That's _Captain Kelly_! And yes I'm fine, Tad," she angrily snapped at her ex-boyfriend. "Just follow after that guy before he gets away!" The others all obeyed, returning to their chase as they hunted after their target, one of them stopping long enough to lift the girl captain up into the saddle behind him before galloping after the criminal, as well.

While that was going on, Marco was putting more and more distance between himself and his pursuers, confident he would easily allude them at this speed. He still took a few seconds to double-check and make sure he really was in the clear, though, listening to the now near-silent trotting of horse hooves, and smiled with satisfaction. Perfect. They were nowhere near him and at this rate he would be long gone before they had time to track him down. He was pretty much in the clear now.

The young thief allowed himself to relax a bit in his seat, loosening his tight grip on the reins. He absentmindedly patted the horse, saying, "Good job, girl. I think we lost them."

The horse he was riding, who was names Pony Head (Kelly wasn't very clever with the names, her mind on more important things like hunting down criminals), hadn't been paying attention to the whole thing, finding all these stupid chases boring. She would much rather be hanging back at the castle with the other horses, maybe even flirting with a few of the better looking stallions there, not going on some annoying chase through the dumb woods looking for some turd.

But the second the boy spoke, the horse snapped to attention, the unfamiliar voice from her current rider setting off red flags in Pony's mind. _What the heck?!_ Pony thought, as she turned her head to see some dumb boy sitting comfortably on her back, looking behind him rather than even paying attention to what was in front of him. _Oh no!_ Pony thought in anger. _No boy is gonna sit on by back!_

She dug her hooves into the ground, bringing them to an abrupt halt and Marco, who had been distracted checking behind them to make sure they were free and clear, was nearly sent flying. The thief screamed, squeezing the reign's clenched in his hands with a death grip, somehow managing to stay on Pony Head, much to her anger and dismay.

"Hey what's the big idea?!" Marco screamed down to the horse, his heart still in his throat, causing him to pant harshly. When he got no reply from the animal, he repositioned himself back in the saddle, taking slow, steady breaths to try and calm his frazzled nerves. He did a quick look around for anything that might have spooked the mare. "Did you see a snake or something?"

Only the one on my back, Pony quipped back in her head.

The boy sighed, letting the scare go for now. "Never mind, let's get going," he said, snapping her reigns to try and get her moving again. But to his surprise the horse didn't move an inch. "Uh, hello?" Marco said with slight annoyance, flicking the reigns again, a little harder this time. "Move."

Still nothing. The boy was starting to lose his patience, the longer they lingered there the greater the chance the guards would catch up to them, Captain Kelly surely not giving up the chase so easily. This was exactly what Pony Head was thinking, as well, mentally smirking to herself at the idea of getting the annoying boy caught. _Yeah keep yellin', turd. I ain't movin' a muscle._

"Come on fleebag, forward!" he yelled, kicking the stubborn horse in the side.

Oh he did not just call me that! Pony mentally screamed, letting out a loud huff through her nostrils. The red thief heard this and opened his mouth to comment, but it quickly turned to a scream as the horse's hind legs bucked up over and over again, trying to knock the annoying pest off her back. It was a quite to see, as the horse aggressively kicked and stomped her way around the clearing, the poor young man holding onto her back for dear life as he was flung around like a rag doll, shouting out his complaints at the top of his lungs, "Whoa! Wait, stop!" The thief felt his stomach churn in protest and he quickly exclaimed in a panic, "I think I'm gonna be sick!"

 _Oh you better not puke on me, you little turd,_ Pony angrily thought, before giving the hardest buck yet, this time finally managing to throw the boy off of her, Marco releasing a high pitched scream as he was sent flying through the air and right toward a cliff. Luckily for him, he was able to grab onto a tree branch, now suspended over the steep incline, hanging on for dear life as his feet dangled helplessly. Marco swallowed down the panicked lump in his throat and tried to ignore the fact that he was currently hanging over a hundred foot cliff, focusing instead of pulling himself up onto the branch. He just prayed it would support his weight. He managed to wrap his legs around the thick back, meaning he didn't have to worry about his arms giving out just yet, but he still understandably held onto the limb with a death grip.

Just as he was about to begin trying to get back on solid ground, he heard the familiar clip-clop of horse hooves, followed by shifting from the branch, alerting him that he was not alone on the limb. The young thief craned his neck to see the same stupid horse that had gotten him into this situation now try to walk onto the unstable branch. He gasped in horror, terrified that the clearly brain-dead mare was about to get them both killed, Marco not sure if the limb could support their combined weight.

He wondered what on earth could be causing the four-legged creature to act so recklessly. That was until he noticed the satchel handing on the far end of the tree, hanging precariously on one of the small limbs that had luckily stopped its descent. And do despite his fear, he began inching his way across the trunk, trying to move as fast as possible, ignoring his safety instincts screaming at him to stop. Pony, though, quickly caught on to what Marco was trying to do and began trying to step on Marco's hands with her hooves, also seeming to completely disregard the dangerous drop directly below them.

Marco, now with a new motivation to beat the stupid horse and keeps his hands from being crushed, took the risk and jumped toward the branch. He just barely managed to grab the satchel, as well as grip the branch it had been loosely hanging off of, the bag nearly slipping off from all the jerky movements and sent plummeting off the cliff. Marco let out a victorious yell, as he turned to the stupid horse with a smug grin, showing off his claimed prize. "Ha, take that you stupid-"

But Marco didn't get a chance to finish his insult, as suddenly there was a loud snapping sound, Marco and Pony Head both looking over to see the large crack in the trunk, which had been made weak by the two's overwhelming weight and constant abuse on the fragile limb. The didn't have any time to react as it gave altogether breaking free of its hold in the cliff side with another loud _snap_ , now sent falling to the unforgiving earth below.

Marco screamed at the top of his lungs, giving out a very undignified yell, while beside him Pony neighed loudly in terror. He felt his body go weightless, his stomach twisting uncomfortably, as he continued to cling to the plummeting branch. A wave of nausea rose up, both from his unbridled terror and his well-known case of motion sickness, which was choosing to come back at the worst possible time. But suddenly his lifeline was gone, snapping in half when it bumped against the cliff side, sending Marco and Pony spiraling away from one another on their fast track to becoming acquainted with the ground.

Next, Marco reached the treetops, thick vines wrapping around his body and slowing his descent immensely. Finally, the vines went taunt stopping the young thief mere inches from hitting the hard ground. His body went limp, allowing the ropes to hold him there, swaying unevenly above the ground. Marco just stayed like that for a few moments, panting as the stress of the ordeal slowly wore off and his heart rate slowed to a more normal pulse.

Until finally he said in a remarkably calm voice, "Well that was scarring for life."

The young thief managed to untangle himself from the thick, knotted vines and get himself settle back down on the soft ground, nearly tempted to get down on hands and knees and kiss it. He would have to, if it weren't for the fact that the ground would have been what would have ultimately caused his death and he really didn't want to go around praising his almost killer. So instead, he just put his satchel back over his shoulder and began walking deeper into the woods.

He wasn't sure where he was headed but literally anywhere was better than here at the moment, just in case that dumb horse had survived too and was now looking for him. Right on que, Marco heard an angry neigh in the distance, not that far away. Marco panicked, looking around for somewhere for somewhere to hide, slowly backing up toward a large hill covered in ivy. But as his back brushed against the vegetation, he found no resistance there, stumbling back and into the hidden entrance and cave within.

The red thief had no time to ponder this as he quickly hid behind a nearby rock, just as the distinct shadow of a horse appeared on the vegetated wall. Pony stopped, as if sensing his presence, looking around her, her ears twitching as they tried to pick up any sound from the boy. Marco pushed himself a little further behind the rock, making sure to make no noise whatsoever, holding his breath and trying to keep himself as still as possible.

For a few tense seconds, Marco watched the silhouette of the mare, unmoving and stock still. Then, at last, the annoying pony seemed to give up on the chase, trotting away from the area and allowing Marco to finally release his held breath. But he kept an eye on the entrance as he backed slowly into the cave, taking slow, cautious steps just in case she was still within hearing distance. Once he could no longer see the entrance, he allowed himself to drop his guard and turn.

The boy's mouth dropped open at the unexpected sight before him. Instead of a dingy, dirty cave like he had been suspecting he had found himself in some sort of secluded clearing, though it was hardly empty. For in the middle of the green and vibrant clearing was an abandoned tower, standing tall and majestic as the sunlight gleamed off of it. Its color was faded from years of neglect and thick, green vines clung around its base and crawled up its sides. But despite this, it still looked remarkable, seeming like it had just been ripped from the side of a castle before being dropped into the hidden clearing. That or it had been taken right out of a fairytale book, but that one was just silly, this was real life, not some fairytale... right? Behind it was a rushing waterfall, which also gleamed brightly in the sunshine, running into a gentle stream.

"Huh, a tower? How'd it end up here?" Marco wondered aloud. But he quickly dismissed his wonderment with a shrug. "Oh well, better not look a gift horse in the mouth."

The young thief cringed at the phrase, before releasing a violent shudder as he was reminded of his brief encounter with that stupid horse. "Okay note to self, never use that phrase again," he told himself.

"Still this is a good place to lay low for awhile," he muttered, his eyes scanning the tower carefully, searching for any form of entrance along its crumbling exterior. "Now if I could just find a way inside..."

Marco's gaze froze on a small window near the top and luckily for him, it was open.

"Bingo!" the boy said with a satisfied smile. He made his way over to the tower, looking up its side, trying to plan out a way up. He pulled out two arrows using those to climb slowly up. He got into a stead rhythm, sticking an arrow in the wall with a loud _thunk_ , before pulling out the next one and sticking it into the wall a bit higher than the last, careful to make sure his feet had a proper resting place as he did. _Clop. Thunk. Clop. Thunk._ The sound repeated itself over and over again, until at last Marco reached the window, grabbing onto its frame and lifting himself inside. He tucked the arrows into his satchel along with the crown, as he looked around the dark room.

It was impossible to tell what anything looked like inside until his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, but he didn't really care of the condition of his temporary hiding place at the moment. He was more interested in checking on his valued prize. He looked into the open satchel with a content grin, staring pleasingly at the golden crown shimmering inside.

So distracted, in fact, that he didn't see a small form making its way over to him in the darkness. He let out a satisfied sigh, saying softly to himself, "Looks like I'm finally out of danger."

A loud _bong_ sounded, echoing around the dark enclosure, as the young thief fell over unconscious, his body going limp as a heavy frying pan smacked him hard in the back of the head. Star, for a moment, just stood over the sleeping man on the floor in front of her, her eyes wide in shock of what she had just done. She continued to hold the frying pan up, ready to strike once again, just in case he did manage to remain conscious after the hit.

"Um, hello?" Star hesitantly called down to him. "A-Are you awake?"

She poked him a couple of times with the pan, but when he didn't react she relaxed some, letting her guard drop a little. Though she was anything but calm, as she began pacing around the room, saying to herself. "Okay so I just knocked out some guy and now he's unconscious in my living room. What do I do? What should I tell mom? No, I cannot tell mom about this. Then again," Star stopped pacing, putting a finger to her chin as she looked thoughtfully over at the boy. "If she saw that I was capable of taking out this intruder then maybe she would see that I'm strong enough to be able to go outside! I'm a genius!"

Star patted herself on the back for the idea, a wide, hopeful grin on her face, as she approached the boy again. She looked down at him smugly, saying with a laugh, "Ha, thought you could just sneak in and try and steal my hair, didn't you? Well you are no match for my incredible talents, mister."

Once, she finished bragging, she just grinned proudly down at the unconscious boy. But her smile vanished as she finally got a good look at the intruder. He was actually quite handsome, his soft brown locks laying across his face, which looked so peaceful and warm as he slept. She could see the slightest hint of toned muscles though his shirt, which caused a lump to form in her throat for some reason. And to top it all off, he had the absolute cutest mole on his left cheek.

For a moment, all Star could do was just stare, love-struck at the handsome boy laying on the floor in front of her, a blush beginning to light up her cheeks. That was until she felt a small tug on her hair and she jumped turning to see Janna flapping her wings behind her, a frown clearly discernible on her fuzzy features. "W-What?" Star said, quickly hiding her blushing cheeks from the bat. "I've just never seen another human before is all," she said defensively.

Star didn't have to be looking at her bat friend to know that she was raising a skeptical eyebrow right now. "L-Let's just find a place to put this guy, before mom gets back," Star said, trying way too hard to change the subject.

She scanned the room in search of a good hiding spot, finally landing on the large closest. "Ah ha! Perfect!" She looked to Janna for agreement, but the bat was still just giving her a skeptical look, not convinced the boy could fit in there. Star frowned, before demanding, "Just help me get him in there."

 **And that's the end of part 1 of this story. I felt this was a good stopping point for now. I enjoyed playing around with this movie since I feel Rapunzel is probably the closest fit to Star out of the princesses and yet Marco is pretty much the opposite of Flynn. Making him the dashing rogue but keeping his Marco-esque qualities was a fun mixture and having him just forget about Ferg and Al instead of betraying them was kinda a stab at how they were basically forgotten in the show. He's not the greatest friend when it comes to them... but they're pretty much used to it by now. I do feel kinda bad, however, for making Eclipsa Mother Gothal, since she's actually a good guy in cannon. But I didn't want to keep using Heinous or Meterora over and over again, so I decided to go ahead and just use Eclipsa. Don't hate me, I love her, I swear!**

 **Haha anyways that will do it for me, I'll try and get out another chapter soon... I've been in a sort of funk lately and was only able to focus on my main story (and even then getting chapters out late for that one for a while) but I feel like I've finally gotten out of it and am now able to actually write much more and have more inspiration to do so for this story. Hope you guys understand! So anyways, I love you all, I will see you all next time!**

 **Cure Orchid- Don't worry I'll get to it. I just like the freedom to write on which ever one I'm in the mood for, rather than follow a specific order. But I'm not even close to giving up on Star White or her seven adorable boyfriends.. err, roommates. I can't wait to get to those two either, though. Who will the lucky Marco be? Maybe they'll all just take turns *shurgs* who knows? Hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Acosta perez jose ramiro- Thanks, glad you liked it. Yeah, the idea of the seven Marcos came from my friend 7L13D, but I totally ran with the idea. I had a ton of fun having Marco interacting with himself, haha. I will continue to do my best.**

 **WaterDragonMaverick- Glad you enjoyed my awesome Marcos, I had a blast writing them! More on them and their backstory later. And some more sweet Starco moments are definitely in tow, as well as them finding a fix for Marco to become whole again. Thanks so much for the review!**

 **AkwardInfo- Thank you so much! Coming from a fellow writer that means a lot! Yeah, the seven Marcos were soooo fun to write! Also, I totally didn't notice the typo till you mentioned it. But I think I'll probably keep it as 'White'. It's literally the only one where she has a different last name, but I like the tie in, that is if I remember it, haha. Leaving out the prince was totally intentional. It was originally going to be Marco but when my friend suggested making the seven dwarfs Marcos, I was like, "Yesss!" So yes, the prince is a mystery, but won't serve a super important role in the overall story... just like the movie, haha! Anyways, thanks again for the support. I do have plans for Frozen but not really Alice in Wonderland. I'm just using movies that contain Princesses and since Alice isn't a princess it probably won't be featured, sorry.**

 **Sugar- Yes, having the seven Marcos fall in love with Star is going to be the most amazing thing ever! Haha, yeah Dr. Marco is basically just cannon Marco having to deal with his own out of control emotions! I didn't know what exactly to do for the character, so he ended up just being the shows Marco. Maybe I can flush him out more later... but who knows?**

 **Yeah you totally called it, that is pretty much the plan, it's not really much of a spoiler since I think everyone called that. Well originally, I was only going to make the one chapter where Star eats the apple, Prince Marco kisses her and wakes her up, they live happily ever after, yada, yada... but when my friend came up with the idea of seven Marcos I was like, "Well I can't just end it all in like a few chapters," and then my brain ran away with the idea and well I decided that some sweet little side stories would be fun and nice.**

 **Okay so I'm totally going to do that, that's such a great idea! Seven Stars interacting with Seven Marcos, each so different and still so perfect for each other, my heart I just can't take it! *faints* I love this idea so, so much, thank you for suggesting it!**

 **Finally, I'm gonna be honest I had you in mind when writing the bad boy parts and was super concerned I didn't do him justice since that kind of character isn't exactly my forte, so it's a relief to hear you enjoyed my take on him! Yeah, Shy Marco was a close second, him and Quiet Marco definitely my two favorites. Not sure if I should take favorites since their all supposed to be falling in love with Star but, *shrugs* oh well. Oh my gosh, if she kissed him he would probably die! XD**

 **7Lights13Darknesses- Haaaaaa, glad you liked it! Also, *fist pump* yes, I convinced him that Marco is the best character.**

 **Star: What was that?**

 **Nothing Star, your beautiful and precious and I love you so much!**

 **Star: *cheerily* Oh, okay then!**

 **Anyways, those were all really good parts to be your favs *whispers* by the way Star, Quiet Marco is my favorite too. *normal voice* Say hi, Quiet Marco!**

 ***Quite Marco waves***

 **Star: When did he get here?**

 **Lincoln: I have no idea, sometimes my forth wall breaking ability confuses even me.**

 ***Star and Quiet Marco jump***

 **Oh hey Lincoln.**

 **Star: Lincoln, how long have you been here?**

 **Lincoln: Oh, I've been trapped here ever since 7L13D posted his last review.**

 **Star: *wide-eyed* Oh.**

 ***Quiet Marco pats Lincoln on the back***

 **Well that's it for me then. Sorry, no Sleeping Beauty just yet though.**

 **See you later, 7Lights13Darknesses!**


	4. Author's Note: Quick Question

**Hey guys, so I never, ever do this but I'm feeling stumped, on which should I do next for this story. I have two chapters I have started and am unsure which one to finish first so I decided to ask you guys. Tangled Part 2 or Little Mermaid? Let me know in the comments. Thanks guys I really appreciate it, sorry this isn't actually a new chapter! :(**


	5. The Deal (Rapunzel Part 2)

**The Deal (Star is Rapunzel AU part 2)**

 **Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry I was gone so long without updating I meant to have this one up sooner but I was focusing on my main story what with it being its anniversary and all. So the votes are in and so it's Tangled part 2 first. I'm figuring I'm just gonna finish up the Tangled story and maybe throw in a chapter of Little Mermaid in between. It is my story after all, I can do whatever I want!**

 **Thanks for the favorites, follows, and reviews as always! I appreciate it and you all so much! So anyways I hope you all enjoy, despite it being forever and a day since my last update and I will see you at the bottom! Oh Marco, got anything to add here.**

 **Marco: …..**

 **Oh right I guess your unconscious right now, huh. Anyways, on to the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its chapters are owned by Disney and Daron Nefcy. Tangled is owned by Disney. All rights go to them.**

After several failed attempts to stuff the boy into her large closet, Star was finally able to get the unconscious intruder inside and hidden (with no help from Janna), without being relatively harmed. She took a few steps back, taking deep, calming breaths, as her mind raced out of control. "Okay, okay, everything's good, Star," the girl reassured herself, before she continued her incoherent ramble. Meanwhile, Janna was busy riffling though the satchel Marco had been wearing. "You just have someone locked in your closet. Someone who could be dangerous if he managed to get out. But, who am I kidding, that won't happen. Besides, this is your big chance, all you need to do is wait for mom to get back and then show her what you did. Nothing bad could happen before then, right Janna?"

Star looked over at her bat friend, but Janna was still buried deep into the brown leather bag and the blond huffed. "Janna, get out of there!" she scolded, actually managing to grab her attention, as she sat up from the satchel with wide, brown eyes. Star stomped over to the animal and snatched the satchel up and out of her grip. "You don't know where that's been!"

Janna flew up and opened the satchel once again, reaching her claws into the bag, despite Star's protest. "Janna, no! We don't know what's in there, there could be something dangerous or bad or-"

Star's voice cut off, as the small fluffy bat pulled out something the blond had never seen before from the depths of the bag. It was golden object of some kind, shimmering and dazzling even in the dim light of the tower and Star became entranced in the thing's beauty and mystery, dropping the satchel without a second thought.

And yet something about it just felt familiar. Though she couldn't recall how, exactly. She took the golden thing out of Janna's claws and began studying it closely. "I've... seen this before," she admitted, as she turned the object around in her hands, over and over again, trying to recall where she could have seen it. "But I don't know where." She got a few bizarre flashes, seeing a room bathed in light as a sun spun lazily around in a circle over and over again, in a soothing manner. But for the life of her, she couldn't remember anymore, just small bits and pieces of a memory long forgotten. Her brain throbbed as it tried to fight against the fog that consumed her mind.

She shook her head, trying to clear it of the pestering thoughts, focusing instead on what this thing was. "Hmm, any ideas what this is?" she asked her bat friend, who shrugged. Star brought it closer to her face, examining every inch of its polished frame, even biting on it, in hopes of this providing some form of clue, but it did no good.

Finally, Star was stumped, giving up in defeat, as she retrieved the satchel off the floor and shoved the shiny object back inside it. "Well, whatever it is, mom definitely shouldn't see it," she said. "I'll have to hide this, too."

Janna made a small squeak and Star turned to her in surprise. "What?" Reading Janna's expression, Star said, "You want to hide it?"

The purple bat nodded, before flying up and grabbing the bag out of her friend's hands. She quickly pulled up one of the loose floorboards of the stairs, revealing a small place to stash stuff. "Huh, I didn't even know that was here," Star commented, from over the bat's shoulder. Janna quickly stuffed the bag into the hidden area amongst the dust and cobwebs, before sealing it back.

Once, the small creature was finished, she turned to her owner with a smug look. "Well, I coulda hid it somewhere good, too," Star defended herself, though she refused to meet Janna's gaze.

Janna looked over at a decorative pot, before turning back to Star with knowing skepticism, implying that she knew Star's first hiding place would be in the most obvious place possible.

Star began scoffing, crossing her arms across her chest. "No, I wouldn't have hid it in there," she denied frantically, though her tone was more condemning to the small bat than convincing. "I would have hid it... uhh..." Star looked around the room for an idea. "In my room. Under my bed," she said hesitantly.

Janna gave her a look that told her, _Like-that-would-be-much-better_. Star opened her mouth to retort, but before she could there was a call from outside. "Star!"

Star gasped. "It's mom!" she shouted in a panic and quickly raced over to the window, nearly tripping over her own hair in her haste. She saw her mother's smiling face from below and quickly hooked her hair before pushing it over the edge for her mom to grab. She wasted almost no time in once again hauling her up the side of the tower. Once Eclipsa was back inside, the woman gave her an immediate hug saying, "Oh Star dear. I am so sorry for arguing with you like that. You know I hate fighting with you."

"It's okay, mom," the blond said quickly, giving her a small squeeze before pulling away and skipping backwards over to the closet. "Sooo, mom, I was thinking about what you said about the floating lights-"

"Darling let's just forget about the stars for a while," Eclipsa said softly but dismissively, as she set the things out of her basket she had gathered. "Why don't you help your mother make your favorite for dinner, candy casserole."

Star was determined to continue though, hand slowly grasping the chair that sealed the closet doors closed. "Yeah, that sounds great but first I want to show you something. I have a bit of a surprise."

Eclipsa sighed and turned to her daughter saying exasperatedly, "Star, I thought we talked about this? You aren't leaving the tower, it isn't safe."

"Yes, but I-"

"No, Star we are done discussing this," her mother argued firmly.

"But if you would just listen-"

"Enough Star!" Eclipsa yelled, finally losing her calm. "You are staying here and that is final! I won't allow you to leave this tower, ever!"

Star froze, her hand pulling away from the chair, as she gave her mother a long, sad look.

Eclipsa stared at her silently for a moment, studying her daughter's depressed face, before saying, "I don't enjoy raising my voice to you Star. But you know the rules. I don't know why you insist on breaking them. Do you really care so little about how that makes me feel?"

Star felt shame fill her insides and she took an instinctive step away from the closet, giving a very nervous chuckle. "Uh, yeah, who cares about floating lights, anyway? I certainty don't," she said in a far too forced tone, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible but instead came across as extremely awkward. She wrapped her arms around herself defensively, her eyes gazing back at the closet thoughtfully. She bit her lip, doing a quick silent debate within, before swallowing down the lump in her throat and adding, "I, um, was only going to say that I figured out what I want for my birthday."

"What's that?" Eclipsa asked softly.

"Some new paint," the girl said with a shrug. "The ones you brought me that one time from the place really far away."

Eclipsa gave her daughter a confused look. "Which ones?"

"You know that time you were gone for like two days and they were in these weird seashell things and-"

Eclipsa held up a hand to silence her, "Yes, yes. I do remember now, thank you." She walked over to her daughter, wrapping her up in a hug, as she asked, "Are your certain that is what you want, darling?"

Star nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. It was some of the best paint I ever had and it would definitely be a better gift than seeing some dumb stars." She was thankful her mom had hugged her, because there was no way she could hide the guilty frown from her mom as she blatantly lied to her. But as she felt her releasing her from the hug, Star quickly put on a forced grin, as she stared into her mom's searching eyes. "Are you sure you will be alright all alone for so long?"

Star scoffed, waving a hand in the air. "I'll be fine, mom. I'll just hang out here... like I always do. I can just watch the floating lights from my window, it's much better that way, anyway."

Her mother gave her a long look before asking suspiciously, "And you won't try and leave-"

"Mom, trust me," Star said, giving her the most innocent grin she could, while crossing her fingers behind her back.

Eclipsa's face softened, before she leaned over and kissed her daughter's head, saying, "Very well then, darling. If that is what you really want."

Star breathed a mental sigh of relief as she helped her mother quickly pack a bag of supplies, her mother leaving a few minutes later, wanting to get a head start on the long journey. She gave Star one last hug, the girl swallowing down the guilt she felt rising up inside her. _It's too late now_ , she reminded herself. _There's no going back._ Star waved down to her mother, as she watched her turn and blow a final, departing kiss, before disappearing from sight.

The second Eclipsa was gone, Star quickly pulled away, now pacing back and forth around the room, not even bothering to remove her hair from the hook in her worry. She was wringing her hands together over and over again, as she let out little, anxious moans of distress. She heard a tiny squeak and froze, looking over to see Janna perched on the back of a chair giving her a piercing gaze which Star instantly interpreted. "Yeah, I know, I panicked!" she shouted, throwing her hands up in desperation. "But you heard mom, she's never going to let me leave! And if she found out somebody managed to get in her, she'd be even more freaked!" Janna nodded her head in agreement at that. Star tapped a finger thoughtfully to her chin. "If I'm going to go see the floating lights, I need a new plan." Star racked her brain for a moment, desperately searching for some kind of idea, before looking down at her bat friend. "You got any ideas?"

Janna pointed her wing over at the closet and Star followed her gaze, wide-eyed. There was a second of pause before Star said wistfully, "Ohhhhhh."

…

Marco woke slowly, moaning in pain as his head throbbed with an unbearable headache. "Ugh, what hit me?" He muttered, waiting for the aching in his brain to stop. Finally it subsided enough that the boy was able to open up his eyes, blinking as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light.

But as he did he noticed a small purple bat holding a lit match close to him and he screamed in fear. "No! Shoo, get out of here!" He tried to wave a hand at it to scare it away, but to his surprise he found his hands were trapped in place. A quick glance down tripled Marco's fears, as he found his arms, legs and torso tied tightly to a chair. Marco began screaming a girlishly high voice, "What's happening?! Where am I?! Why am I tied up?! Is this hair? Why am I tied up with hair?!"

"Because that's what you get for breaking into my tower!" Marco's head snapped up as he tried to trace the voice from the darkness.

"Who said that? Who's there?" Marco shouted his eyes scanning the shadows around him. Suddenly a form began to creep into view, stepping delicately into the light, and the boy had to fight every instinct in his body to keep his mouth from dropping open. It was a girl with flowing blond hair, very _long_ hair that stretched out across the floor and around the entire length of the castle before leading up to the chair he was tied up to. And if that was not startling enough, she was also quite beautiful, her pale face pretty and fair, and her purple dress equally cute. She was barefoot and had piercing blue eyes that Marco just knew he could remain lost in for all of eternity. He might have even found her presence comfortable if she wasn't currently frowning at him, her eyes full of fire, as she held a frying pan threateningly as a weapon.

The girl ceased her glaring long enough to turn to the bat, still with a lit match in its claws, and said, "Thanks Janna. I can take it from here."

The boy and bat shared a look for a second, the winged creature seeming to almost be glaring at him, before it flew up toward the ceiling. Marco quickly recovered from his shock, as he struggled against his bonds, shouting, "What is going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on, you broke into my home so you could steal my hair," Star said coldly, pointing an accusing finger in the boys face.

"What? N-No!" Marco stuttered in confusion. What was this crazy girl talking about? "I didn't know anyone was living here and I definitely wasn't going to try and steal your hair!"

"Likely story," the girl said suspiciously, leaning in closer to the boy's face, causing the boy to slightly blush, despite the situation. "Now fess up, tell me how you found this place?!"

"Look it was a total accident!" Marco quickly said, trying to calm the agitated blond, keeping his voice at the most innocent and nonthreatening tone he could. "I was running from this horse, I saw your tower and I climbed it, okay? That's it. End of story."

The girl stared at him long and hard, her gaze unwavering and the boy felt his cheeks continuing to flush, his body growing hot and sweaty. He wasn't used to being this close to a girl, especially one as beautiful or crazy as this one. "You're sure your not here to steal my hair?" she asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm positive," the boy replied, trying to keep the squeak out of his voice.

The intense moment stretched out for far too long, as the girls icy blue eyes narrowed and she seemed to be unsure whether she believed him or not. Marco became afraid his heart might explode it was pumping so fast and he was certain that at the very least this girl could hear the constant noisy hammering of his organ, it was basically impossible to miss. He tried to swallow but his throat was too dry for such an act and he instead let out a raspy, anxious cough.

"So uh, can you untie me now?" He somehow managed out and the girl at last pulled away from him, though she still kept a quizzical gaze on him, and Marco had to fight the urge to let out a relieved sigh, as his heartbeat finally slowed.

"I have to discuss this with my friend first," the blond said plainly.

Wait? Was there someone else in this tower he hadn't seen yet. Marco did a quick look around the tower but saw no one else. He figured it would make sense that this girl wouldn't be alone but still... Then to his surprise, he saw that the blond was talking to the small purple bat, who sat perched on her hand, whispering softly under her breath so Marco couldn't hear. Okay, he really needed to get out of here, this girl had clearly lost her mind. He struggled in the chair pulling against the surprisingly strong hair wrapped around his wrists, trying anything that would get him out of this tower and away from the crazy blond that held him hostage. Finally the girl seemed to finish her conversation, turning back to him and the boy halted his struggle. "Alright," she said, giving him a stony stare. "I'm prepared to offer you a deal."

"A deal?" Marco questioned worriedly, the last thing he wanted was to negotiate with her, terrified of what exactly she wanted from him. He swallowed down the lump of fear in his throat as he risked asking, "What kind of deal?"

"I'll let you go if you take me to see the floating lights," she said.

"Floating.. lights," Marco repeated, his fears confirmed. Yep, she was definitely bananas.

"Yeah you know the big lights that appear in the sky once every year. See look," She pointed over to her painting and Marco stared at it quizzically. "Um, what am I looking at?" He asked, squinting, trying to make out the poorly drawn picture.

"Duh, it's me at the floating lights," Star explained in annoyance.

"Is that a spider?" Marco asked.

Star turned back to the picture for a second, before whipping back around to face the boy. "Okay never mind the drawing." She walked toward the boy, demanding, "The point is you are going to take me go see the floating lights and then bring me safely back home."

"And if I refuse," the boy asked, a hint of anxiety in his tone.

"Then you never see your purse ever again," Star threatened.

Marco rolled his eyes, before explaining, "It's a satchel not a purse." Then, her threat finally registering, he began to frantically look around the tower, straining against the ropes as he desperately searched for his missing item. "Oh no! My satchel, where is it?!"

"I've hidden it somewhere you'll never find it," Star said smugly, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Janna gave her a knowing look from her perch on the blond's shoulder, which Star ignored.

Marco finally stopped, giving the girl a narrowed glare. "Oh great so your a thief too! Anything else I should add to your resume?" He asked with a sarcastic roll of his eyes.

Star huffed. "Hey don't forget you broke in here first, mister. And unless you take me to see the floating lights, I can promise you you will never find your precious purse," she threatened poking him in the chest with her finger.

"Satchel," Marco corrected. "and I don't even know what these floating lights are? How can I even take you there?"

"How do you not know?!" Star asked in exasperation. "They're big lights up in the sky that only appear once every year!"

Suddenly something clicked in Marco's brain as he finally remembered hearing many of the citizens of Corona talking about something along those lines when he had been sneaking through the town. "Ohhh right, the lantern things," he said without thinking.

The blond gasped, before her face broke out into a wide beam as she grabbed the boy by the collar and moved to within inches of his face, her eyes shimmering like her namesake. "You know what they are?!"

Marco tried to answer her, his voice squeaking against his will once more from her startling close contact. "Yes! No! Sorta!"

The girl's eyebrows narrowed in the cutest way (wait, what was he thinking? she kidnapped him!) As she asked carefully, "Well which one is it?"

"Get out of my face and I'll tell you," Marco demanded, his face painted red.

Star obeyed, though didn't release her grip on his collar, tipping his chair slightly toward her. Marco coughed to clear his surprisingly tight throat. What was wrong with him? Why was he feeling this way, she was just a girl after all. He had seen them before, so why was she so effortlessly making his heart float, feeling it was separate from his chest. "Look all I know is the people of a nearby kingdom saying something about these lanterns that they use to celebrate their princess or something, okay."

Star squealed and turned over her shoulder to shout at her pet, "Do you hear that, Janna? They are real, I knew it!" She didn't even wait for Janna to reply as she whipped her head back around to face the startled boy, who jumped at the sudden action. "So then mister intruder, how about it? You scratch my feet, I give you yours-"

"That's not how that saying goes," Marco interrupted.

"-We help each other," Star finished, giving him a wide and innocent smile.

Marco sighed trying to think of a way out of this situation. "Look you seem..." the thief paused trying to think of the right word to use here. "Well unstable honestly. But even if I wanted to help you, I couldn't, I'm not exactly welcomed over there."

"Oh, did you break into someone else's house there too," Star commented sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"No!" Marco retorted sharply, before adding hesitantly, "I... uh... just sorta... stole something."

Star stated at him blankly for a moment, before commenting, "And you called me a thief?"

The boy in red rolled his eyes, before saying exasperatedly, "The point is if I go back there I'll be arrested, so I'm not taking you."

Star gave a nonchalant shrug. "Well then I guess you're leaving empty handed," she replied carelessly, leaning an arm against the back of the chair in a casual gesture, pretending to be indifferent one way or the other.

The boy could easily see through the ploy and tried a different tactic, "How can you expect me to travel with you, you knocked me out and tied me to a chair! No offense but you don't seem exactly like the most trustworthy type."

But the girl was quick to counter, pointing out, "Well if anything I'm the one who shouldn't be trusting you, after all you did break into my home and are apparently a wanted criminal."

Marco opened his mouth to reply, but stopped knowing there was some truth to that statement, instead changing the subject once again, "But I don't even know your name!"

"It's Star," the girl admitted instantly, before inquiring, "And you are."

The boy let out a deep breath, not sure if he should give this girl his real name or not. She had given him literally no reason to trust her, but for some reason the boy found himself saying, "Marco. Marco Diaz."

Star looked almost as surprised as he did that he had actually given out his name (even though she had her doubts it was his real one), but she continued despite her obvious shock, "Okay, look Marco, I know this is a weird request and everything but seeing these things has been my dream since I was little. I've lived my whole life stuck in here and all that's kept me going through all the boring, _boring_ days was thinking about seeing the floating lights in person. And now that you're here, this might be my only chance to get to see them, so please... would you help me?"

Marco was caught off guard by just how sincere and open she was being admitting this to him that he began to feel sympathy for her plight. Her eyes were begging, the deep blue nearly hypnotic to him, and he would be lying if he said that they didn't tug at his heartstrings.

He began to think about this crazy girl in a whole new light, seeing her as more than an enemy or nuisance, and instead got a really good, genuine look at her and who she was for time since he had woken up. Sure she had basically kidnapped him but he did barge into her home and frightened her. If anything he was at fault here and she was clearly beyond desperate to leave this place. It reminded him of himself, honestly, back when he had been just a young child in an orphanage, dreaming of a better life, of adventure and freedom. He understood her need, probably better than most ever did. And yeah, they were still a bit more extreme than he would have liked but her heart was still in the right place, even if her actions were not.

So despite the risk, despite the worry, despite his most basic of instincts telling him this was a bad idea, he instead found himself asking, "So all I have to do is take you to go see these floating lights and then take you back and you'll give me back my satchel." He searched her eyes for conformation, ignoring his skipping heartbeat from maintaining eye contact with her for too long.

"I promise," Star said, keeping her gaze steady with him, silently conveying her trustworthiness to him.

Marco sucked in a breath. _I'm so gonna regret this._ "All right, I'll take you to go see the floating lights," he finally said and Star gasped in joy and shock.

"Really?!" she exclaimed, hugging her arms close to her chest in excitement. But her letting go of the still tilted chair, caused the whole thing to tip over, sending it and Marco crashing to the floor with a loud bang and equally loud cry of pain from the young thief. Star cringed, calling down sheepishly, "Sorry."

The boy lay with his face pressed uncomfortably against the floor, a frown plastered on his face as he groaned,"Ugh, I should have just let myself get arrested."

…

A few minutes later, Marco was slowly making his way down the tower, using the same arrows from before to climb down the tower's side. He looked back up to where Star was, leaning out the window and watching his descent. "You coming!" Marco called up to her and she said nothing, so he merely shrugged and continued the monotonous task, wondering if the blond would actually have the guts to follow. She had seemed so eager and energetic about leaving before, but she was clearly having second thoughts now.

Star, meanwhile, was taking deep, steadying breaths as she looked down at the world waiting below, her heart was hammering so much she was afraid it might explode. Her hair was already secured to the hook and she was leaning against it heavily as she stared at the dizzying heights beneath her bare feet. "Okay, Star, you got this," she reminded herself, whispering under her breath. "Just the single biggest moment of your life, no pressure." She tightened her grip on her hair, looking over at her familiar bat friend flying beside her. "You ready Janna?"

The bat looked indifferent either way, shrugging her wings and Star let out a breath. "Wish I was as confident as you," she muttered, before directing her attention back to the ground below. "Here I go..." she said as bravely as she could, clenching her eyes shut for a second.

Marco had just reached the ground when he heard Star scream, "Look out below!" He looked up just in time to see Star dive off the side of the tower and fall straight down at a breakneck speed, using her hair as a make-shift rope for her descent. Irrational panic took over as he tried to get into a good position to catch her, just in case she couldn't stop herself in time and didn't die on impact with the ground.

Star just giggled incessantly as she felt the cold air rush around her, which was quite pleasant against her face. She closed her eyes and just relished the feeling of weightlessness that consumed her body. But hearing a squeak beside her, her eyes shot open as she realized she was getting too close to the ground and heeded Janna's warnings as she yanked against her hair-rope bringing her to an instant stop, her body just inches from Marco's outstretched arms, waiting to catch her. She looked over at the teen who blushed and said nervously, "I'll, uh, just go stand over there." He quickly retreated to the small river and Star watched his form for only a second before her eyes jumped back to the unfamiliar grass waiting below her.

She took in a deep breath and bravely lowered her legs down to the forest floor, letting her toes gently feel the soft grass. She giggled as the blades tickled her feet and with new found courage laid down in the grass, feeling a gentle breeze blow against her. She had never experienced sensations like this before, being sheltered inside the lonely tower her whole life. She had dreamed of this moment for so long and now that it was here, nothing she imagined could come close to right now.

Star took in a deep breath, the scent of grass and dirt and just the outside filled her nostrils and left goosebumps on her skin. After another few moments of enjoyment, she rose and ran over to the trickling stream, splashing into the water and spraying the startled Marco next to her. He let out a startled yelp but Star didn't notice as she just scooped up a big handful of water and threw it up into the air, letting it splashdown on her face, with another loud laugh. The cool moisture felt good on her skin and she shook her head to relieve herself of the water, running instead toward the entrance, as fast as her body would take her, her hair trailing behind her and her excitement ever building in her chest.

"Hey wait!" Marco called after her, running to keep up. Star barely heard him as she passed through the vegetated curtain and out into the real world for the first time in her entire life. Her smile was wide and her eyes were shimmering as she took in every sight around her, twisting around and around in an attempt to see it all. Marco finally caught up with her, watching her silently for a moment. Her joy was so infectious that despite everything he couldn't help but smile for her, inwardly glad to see her happiness and was again reminded of himself and how free and content he had felt when he had first been out on his own. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.

He looked over beside him to see the same bat from before giving him a long, almost smirking stare and the boy felt instant discomfort at the knowing look on the bat's face. He coughed and crossed his arms in front of his chest, awkwardly, muttering, "What are you looking at?"

The smirk seemed to widen before she flapped over to Star, much to Marco's relief.

"This is amazing!" Star continued to scream, jumping up and down with joy, causing Marco to let out a small chuckle. "I'm sooo happy right now! If mom could see me now she would be so furious!" Her smile dropped for a moment, but quickly resumed as she continued, "But she doesn't know so it's okay, right?"

It left again as her eyes widened and she grabbed the top of her head in worry. "Oh man this would so kill her!" Marco felt sympathy fill his chest but before he could say a word the girl began to smile brightly again. "Buuuuttt she'll never know, so I'm just fine!"

The young thief raised an eyebrow at the girl's sporadic mood shift, she was definitely strange that much was certain. The girl turned once more, spotting something ahead and began to run towards it, yelling, "Ooohhh what's that?!"

Marco followed her gaze and quickly realized what it was, racing after her as he shouted in warning, "No Star, wait don't touch that!" He managed to grab her hand just before she could touch the five leaved plant in front of her. "That's poison ivy!"

Star blinked once, before pulling her hand away saying gratefully, "Wow, that was a close one. Thanks Marco."

Marco blushed against his will, rubbing at the back of his neck with a sheepish chuckle. "Uhh, it's no big deal, just try to be more careful next time," he said nervously.

Star nodded. "Okay I will," she said cheerfully. She turned away from him, letting out a soft gasp as she spotted a bee hive ahead. Curiosity overcame her, as she instantly forgot her promise and shouted, "What's that?!" She ran toward it without a second thought and Marco watched her go tiredly, a worried frown on his face. He let out a long sigh, even as her screams reached his ears. "Ahhh, Marco help! I broke it and now the bugs are all angry at me!"

"It's gonna be a long day," Marco muttered dejectedly.

 **Well that does it for me. I know this one was a bit short but hopefully the next one will be longer and sooner. This just felt like a good ending spot for this one, hope you all liked it! Welp, stay awesome everyone and I will see you next time!**

 **WaterDragonMaverick- Yep, sorry these keep coming out so late apart. Yeah I know I love Eclipsa so much too, but she fit just too well not to use her here. Still, after so much growth for her happened in the span of two seasons I can't help but be like, "What am I thinking, she's such a good character?!" Anyways, I'm planning on finishing up this one, as well as throw in a chapter of Little Mermaid since I've already started it and you have been so insistent about wanting it. Not that I can blame you, it's a great one.**

 **I was actually planning on her for this role and now I want to give her this nice twist on her character, like she is just trying to help others get their wish but her magic requires getting something in return. Her keeping a close eye on her makes sense too and I kinda have an idea who I want the real villain to be... So uhh, who should her minions be? I'm having trouble deciding. Figured I'd ask your advice. She probably won't show up in the first chapter though. She is one of my favs too and I really enjoy her interactions with both Star and Marco so much! She was kinda like a second mom to them which was nice.**

 **Acosta perez jose ramiro- Thank you! Yeah she was sorta built up as being a villain for the show and she fit just too well here not to use as Mother Gothal. I tried to think of someone who fit the role other than her but none came to mind... darn it Mother Gothal why did your personality have to mesh so well with Eclipsa's! Haha, part of the reason I put Janna as a bat is actually because in my main story she has the power to turn into a bat so I'm used to writing her that way and thought it would make for some cute, funny interactions.**

 **Sugar- Thank you, they both blended so well into this world and story and I honestly think Star is closest to Rapunzel personality wise. Well her or Anna who are so, so similar. Haha yeah, though she would argue she isn't a pet. But she totally is. Ummm, I don't know, I planned on just making her a bat, still it would be pretty cool if she turned out to be able to speak English. Maybe through Star's magic. Hmmm... *intense thinking* Well regardless I could see her doing that and Star and Marco's perplexed reaction would be hilarious! XD**

 **Yeah I know, Eclipsa just felt like a good fit here, though I will say I made her too close to Gothal rather than her own character, I tried to fix it in this one but I don't know, it may be just as bad. I did my best, I'm not perfect, that much is for sure. Anyways, hehe I loved that little joke, of course she would be a horrible painter, she wasn't exactly a great artist in the show!**

 **Of course any and all ideas are welcome even if I don't use them all! Though I had quite a few of these in mind already- my original thought was to have Tom be in the tavern, but this is a really fun idea too.**

 **The Cinderella one was spot on, except I want Eclipsa to be the Fairy Godmother and Janna to be a Fairy Godmother in training. They didn't get nearly the amount of interactions they deserved! XD**

 **I was more thinking Pony Head for Mushu, her sarcastic wit is on point with Eddy Murphy! XD Also her sister's are the spirit guardian things. And ohh I just realized I can write a scene with the other queens. That will be interesting. :3**

 **Ha, troll ending Janna, that would be amazing! But I plan on Eclipsa who isn't evil I will say but is just running a business. And of course Jackie will be a mermaid too! How can I not have her in it?! Also still going back and forth on whether the seagull should be Glossaryk or Janna, they both fit the part perfectly.**

 **Okay are you reading my mind or something, because how did you know that is what I had planned for Tom?**

 **Human Pony? Yes, yes, yes! She is the perfect Charlotte, like spot on! XD**

 **I'm still tossing around ideas for the three fairies, but honestly the three mommies of the show as the loving, caring faires is actually bringing tears to my eyes! :')**

 **Thanks for the ideas, friend, I loved hearing all of them and they were all really good!**

 **Finally, haha yeah, they were both fun to write and it's almost scary how well so many of these characters naturally fill the roles.**

 **Jaffa3- Well thank you! It was just such a fun idea I had to run with it! It's amazing how well Star can fit each of their roles and not feel out of place or anything. The only one I'm unsure about is Tiana and will probably have to "Star up" her role. Still thank you so much! Hope you keep reading, friend!**

 **And I won't reply to each of the requests, but thank you all for your vote and input, it means a lot! *whispers* _And for those who voted for Little Mermaid I will try my best to sneak it in soon, shhh..._**


	6. Under the Sea (Ariel)

Under the Sea (Star is Ariel AU)

 **Hey everyone! Hope you are all having a great week! I am! Today is my birthday actually and I really wanted to get something posted for it and this one seemed like a good pick. I said I might do this and since this one was already started I decided to go ahead and finish it up first before going back to Tangled AU. I had a blast with this one and it is certainly longer than the last one. Like a lot longer. Hehe, I really hope you all like it! Mermaid Star was just too tempting not to use and I had fun playing around with how the characters would effect and change the story. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Disney and Daron Nefcy. Tangled is owned by Disney. All rights go to them.**

The sound of crashing waves and seagull's calls filled the air as the large fishing boat cut it's way through the foamy sea. Dolphins, eager and happy, followed after the ship, practically gliding across the blue waves, easily keeping pace with the fast-sailing ship. They chittered and squeaked up at the boat as a group of sailors hauled a large net onto the deck, which was filled to the brim with dripping, flopping fish, all of the chattering creatures hoping for a handout. The sailors all but ignored the clear beggings of the sealife below as they went about their work.

One lone soul though was watching the dolphins playful behavior with a smile, the teenage boy getting quite a bit of entertainment out of the friendly sealife. A fish somehow wiggled free of the net, landing at the boy's feet, still flopping wildly and he took a quick look around at the other sailors, who were all too preoccupied with their work to notice him. The boy carefully picked up the dying fish and held it up where the dolphins could see and pointed at it with a wide smile. The reaction was instant, the aquatic mammals chittering excitedly. He quickly tossed the fish overboard and the dolphins went into a mad dash for the handout, trying to shove each other out of the way, until eventually it ended up in one of their mouths, the particular dolphin swallowing greedily while the others watched him in jealousy.

The boy laughed until he felt a hand on his shoulder and he cringed turning to see Manfred staring at him, with a raised eyebrow. "Sire, you know if you keep giving them handouts, they will just keep coming back," he said with disgust, leering down at the creatures below.

"Yeah, but I want them to come back," the boy explained, looking back over to them with a smile.

Manfred rolled his eyes, saying, "Oh, Your Highness, you still have so much to learn before you take the throne."

With that the man thankfully left and the boy sat down on the boat's edge with a tired sigh, looking down at the ocean again. The dolphins had left and he was already missing their presence, one of the few tolerable things on this trip. He stared at the waves for another minute before turning and heading back to his cabin, his brain wandering as he tried to imagine what it would be like to a dolphin, living life free of responsibility and without a care in the world, able to explore the vast ocean with no one telling you what to do or how to live. It must be nice.

...

Meanwhile far below the fast-moving ship, deep deep below, beneath the blue waves and lapping tides, father down than any human could go, lay an underwater world full of mysteries yet unsolved, creatures and places that no mere land dweller had ever laid eyes on, a treasure trove of wonders that went unappreciated and unnoticed to the world above. And in a particularly dark corner of this oceanic world, lay a far less pleasant and calming part of the sea.

A graveyard. Where sunken ships had met their demise at the hands of the oftentimes harsh ocean surf and storm. Here, in the dark, dreary waters, where little sunlight was able to touch, lay the sight where an unmeasurable number of souls had come to their end before being put to rest in Davy Jones' locker, a bloody collection of broken masts, tattered sails and shattered remains of what were once fine, sailing ships.

But this cruel fact did little to dissuade the two young mermaids who braved the underwater cemetery, swimming swiftly through the dark waters. One was blond with long flowing hair, bright blue eyes that sparkled with curiosity and innocence and hearts on her cheeks. She had a couple of pink shells braided into the top of her hair, acting as a headband of sorts, as well as around her chest. Her tail was long and slender, the thousands of green scales catching the low light making it shine, the end of her tail pink, matching her shells and cheeks.

The other mermaid, who was in the lead, had short white hair with a streak of green. Her face was freckled beneath a pair of shimmering sea-green eyes that sparkled with confidence and a pair of yellow seashells on her cheeks. She also wore a necklace that matched her cheeks perfectly and a light blue cloth around her mid-section. Her tail was light blue at the top but slowly grew a darker shade all the way down its length.

"What do you think we'll find this time, Jackie?" the blond one asked her friend, trying not to show how out of breath she was from trying to keep up with her fast-moving bestie. Jackie had the reputation for being the fastest swimmer in the ocean, oftentimes proving this title by racing against other sea creatures who were dumb enough to challenge her. So far she had yet to lose.

"Don't know," Jackie responded nonchalantly, making sure to slow her pace a little to make it easier on her friend. "Maybe a snarfblat or another thingamabob?" she supplied.

"Ooooh," Star said in wonder. "Either of those would be good, but y'know I kinda hope it's something new."

The two swam for a few seconds in silence, before Star suddenly squealed with delight, not realizing just how close to Jackie's ear she was, spotting the unchecked ship they had scouted out a few days ago up ahead. The blond yelled loudly, "Look there it is, Jackie!"

"Yeah I can see it, Star," Jackie responded with a chuckle, not caring about the slight ring to her ears, she was used to it by now having the overly excited Star as her friend, and she couldn't help but smile at the blond's infectious joy. No matter how many times the two came here to scour for human items, Star was always beside herself with exhilaration, acting like it was her first time.

Star adored the humans, loving anything and everything to do with them, collecting any trinkets she could find from their world and even studying them from afar. Jackie was fine with her friend's hobby, despite the rules against it, and often tagged along with her, but honestly wasn't that interested in the similar race from above. She mostly joined in because Star insisted she come, even making the argument that it was no fun without her bestie by her side.

Still she couldn't pretend it didn't put a smile on her face whenever Star spoke about the humans, her bubbly excitement intoxicating and impossible to resist.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go check it out!" Star said impatiently as she swam forward nearly matching Jackie's own quick speed. Jackie grinned before slowing her pace enough so that they were now side by side each other, feeling her own heart start to race in anticipation.

Once the two reached the destroyed wreckage of what was once a beautiful sailing vessel, the two easily slipped inside the small window of the ship and into the broken, decaying interior. The water was musty within, green algae covering the fractured and fading wood. Despite this, the ship was mostly intact, in comparison to most of the shipwrecks the two mermaids had explored in the past. It was as if the ocean waves had captured the ship in a moment of time and refused to let it go.

"Wowww!" Star squealed, instantly swimming deeper into the dark and cramped space, her eyes exploring every inch of the ship's lower decks, until she was no longer in Jackie's line of sight. A second later, Star screamed in joy, "Jackie, get over here, I think I just found a skeleton!"

The speedy mermaid, just shook her head and followed after, not saying a word as she looked around with mild interest.

But neither of the two noticed the large, dark shadow that passed by the port hole the two had entered into a moment earlier, before following along the length of the ships exterior, looking for a way in.

…

The two explored the ship for a while, navigating the maze of rooms below, searching for anything that caught their eye or intrigue. The two eventually came across a large chest, highlighted by the large unbroken window in that area, light somehow creeping into the murky interior. Star eagerly threw open the trunk without a second thought. The room lit up golden as thousands of dazzling coins reflected in the water around the two.

The blond looked inside for a few seconds before slamming the lid back down with an unamused expression. She let out an annoyed sigh as she leaned against the chest. "Uhh, another one," she complained, with a roll of her eyes. "That's like the fifth one of these we've found."

But Star quickly spotted something else that caught her instant interest, abandoning the chest for the greater treasure. It was a small piece of metal with three little points on it, reminding her of her mom's Triton.

"Wow, what is it?" Star said in a sing-song voice, her shimmering eyes almost reflecting the shape of the object perfectly, as she slowly approached the small, metal object.

"Beats me," Jackie said as she watched Star pick up the piece of metal, running her hand along the smooth frame.

Star turned back to her friend as she stuffed her find into her purse. "Buuuuttt, we know someone who will," Star pointed out, excitedly.

Jackie nodded and was about to respond when a shadow fell across them and she frowned in confusion. "Is it just me or did it just get darker in here?"

The two mermaids slowly turned in the direction of the light source, the light from the window being blocked by a large shape which Star and Jackie instantly recognized by its top dorsal fin and rows of sharp, dangerous teeth, which were opening wide as the overgrown fish prepared to strike.

"Shark!" Star screamed, before the glass shattered and the deadly predator barreled into the sunken ship with his prey. Star and Jackie dodged around the sharks gaping jaws, heading back the way they had come in a hurry.

The shark followed after, wiggling its large body through the tight spaces, chomping and destroying any weak, algae-covered wood that blocked its path like it was nothing. The two mermaids swam like their life depended on it (which it did) Jackie easily taking the lead and leaving Star to follow after her trail of bubbles. The blond pumped her tail up and down as fast as she could, panting heavily, as she heard the shattering of wood and low growl of the approaching predator ever behind her.

Suddenly though, Star felt something getting ripped off her shoulder and she looked back to see her purse hanging off a lone nail, the dangerous shark's snapping jaw fast approaching her treasured items. Star panicked, screaming out, "My purse!" before doing the unthinkable and actually began swimming back toward it and the predator.

Jackie, hearing her friend's scream, looked over her shoulder only to feel her heart drop as she watched the blond's suicidal dive. Jackie instantly reversed course, swimming back over to her friend as fast as her body and adrenaline would allow. Just as Star recovered her purse, Jackie grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the way, causing Star to cry out, but allowing them to just barely miss being eaten alive as the shark's jagged teeth made contact with the spot they were just in a second later, destroying everything there with a mighty _snap_.

The two quickly swam the short (if not claustrophobic) distance to the port window, both easily squeezing through the tight space, leaving the shark trapped below. Still, Jackie refused to release her hold on Star for a single second, dragging her behind her while trying to put as much distance between her and the deadly predator.

The blond looked back just in time to see the shark break through the wall of the ship, not even slightly dissuaded from his pursuit of his future meal. "Jackie!" Star started to cry in panic, but her friend quickly interrupted her.

"I see him." she replied shortly, her eyes busy scanning the dark ocean around her for something to help them escape. Normally she could outrun a shark no problem, but with Star weighing her down she wasn't sure if they could escape or not. Which meant they needed another way out and fast!

That was when she spotted a giant anchor half buried in the sand and a plan began to form in her mind. "I've got an idea!" Jackie exclaimed. "Split up and lead him over there," the white-haired girl continued, pointing out the place in mind. Star followed her finger and then gave a short, determined nod.

Jackie released her hold on her friend's arm and the two quickly took off in opposite directions, confusing the shark who looked between the two for a couple of seconds trying to decide which of the two would be an easier meal. Once he realized that the blond one was slower than the other, he quickly charged after her, his slick body cutting through the water like a knife.

A tingling feel in the back of her neck informed Star she was being followed and she looked behind her to see the shark gaining. She let out a small cry of panic, before picking up her pace with every ounce of energy she had left, overworking her tired tail in the hopes it would be enough to escape. She swam toward a sunken ship, maneuvering though the wreckage in an attempt to confuse the shark. But as she did, the shark crashed into the ship's side making the whole thing creak and groan as it fell to its side, nearly crushing the blond mermaid under its weight.

It did, however, kick up a cloud of sand that filled the ocean water for a moment, blinding the predator completely, who began snapping his jaws wildly in hopes of catching something. Star managed to swim out of the foggy area and made her way toward Jackie who was waving to her wildly. But as the dust resettled and the water became clear once more, the shark was finally able to see the mermaid and it shot toward her like a missile.

"Star, look out!" Jackie cried in warning and Star turned just in time to see the shark about to swallow her whole. She screamed and bolted to the side, the jaw's missing her by mere inches, but also managing to snatch her purse, ripping it off her shoulder. The blond watched in horror as her possession hung from the shark's sharp, deadly teeth and without even thinking she let out a yell, charging toward the deadly predator.

The shark actually stopped short in shock, as the foolish mermaid swam right up to him and grabbed onto the purse, pulling and tugging against it in an attempt to free it from his jaws. "Let go of it!" she hissed, her voice strained. "It's mine!"

Jackie just face-palmed, giving her friend a disbelieving look, unable to tell if she was either really brave or really stupid... or both. The shark, recovering from his initial shock, growled and began to actually pull back against her, getting into an odd tug-of-war with the stubborn mermaid, who refused to let go, keeping a firm grip on her prize.

Jackie, seeing this, reacted quickly she grabbed the end of the thick rope that once hung from the anchor beside her and swam over to the shark's swaying tail. She did a few loops around it, before yanking the rope tight around his tail and the shark let out a growl of surprise. The second his jaw opened Star was able to finally yank her purse free, flung back a few inches and sending her tumbling for a moment. But as she regained her bearings, she let out a shout of victory, "I got it!" She help up her purse triumphantly, but her elation was quickly overshadowed by the pure fear as the shark was now right in front of her, a deadly leering in his eyes, that told her she had made him angry.

"Uh oh," Star squeaked, as the jaw opened its mouth to attack, but Jackie had just finished tying the final knot and in the spam of seconds, swam around the shark and pushed the mermaid out of the way of the deadly, snapping jaws. She and Star continued on, the predator making chase, that was until the rope around his tail went taunt, yanking him backward and holding him effectively in place.

The two paused, watching as the shark struggled to free himself, snapping angrily at the water, trashing around like there was no tomorrow, causing a cascade of bubbles to swirl around as he upset the flowing tide around him. Star and Jackie panted and let out deep sighs of relief at having avoided being eaten alive, the latter punching her friend hard in the shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?" Star asked, rubbing at her sore limb in annoyance.

"That's for putting your life intentionally in danger... twice," Jackie replied, surprisingly calm.

The two began swimming side by side to the surface, leaving the dark murky waters and forgotten graveyard behind them. Star let out a scoff and rolled her eyes, saying, "I was fine, I had it handled."

"Oh really?" Jackie commented with a small smirk. "Cause if I hadn't done anything I'm pretty sure you'd be in that shark's digestive system by now."

"Well, you did, so it's all good, right?" Star stated, her own naive logic as endearing as much as it was frustrating.

Jackie let out a small sigh, before saying, "Just maybe try to use your head next time or else that hobby of yours will end up getting us both killed."

"Now your starting to sound like my mom," Star said, grinning playfully. The two began to giggle, as they continued their ascent, unaware of the furious roars from the predator below them.

…

When the two surfaced, breathing in the salty sea air, they instantly began to look around for the large rock that housed their human expert. They found it quickly, but once they had swam over to it, they realized it was empty. "Where is she?" Star asked, her hands on her hips.

"Knowing her, it could be anywhere," Jackie replied with a roll of her eyes. A form surfaced from the water suddenly and the two turned to stare at the black-haired mermaid, wiping her dripping bangs out of her face. She wore a fishnet woven into a beanie of sorts over thick black hair and a pair of skull and crossbones on either cheek. She had on some sort of soft yellow material over her top, her dark green tail slapping the waves carelessly. She had a net full of what looked like a bunch of kelp slung over her shoulder and she lugged it over to her home. She either didn't seem to notice the two there or was simply ignoring them, but Star decided to take the initiative and say hello.

"Hey Janna!" Star greeted cheerfully.

The girl's brown eyes landed uncaring on the two, as she threw the kelp onto the rock. "Oh it's you two," she said emotionlessly.

"Yeah, ha, it's us!" Star agreed, ignoring the girl's careless behavior. "We brought you some more human stuff..." Star held up her purse for Janna to see. "And we were hoping you would... y'know, tell us what it is, like you do."

"What's in it for me?" Janna asked, hauling herself onto the rock and leaning comfortably back against the bulky net.

Before Star could answer, Jackie quickly cut in, saying, "C'mon Janna, is that really necessary?"

The dark-haired mermaid shrugged, retorting,"Hey, if you don't want to pay up, find someone else who knows about humans."

"But you're the _only_ one!" Star exclaimed in exasperation.

The girl smirked widely, before saying, "Exactly."

"Look, we almost died to get this stuff-" Jackie tried, but the topside mermaid was having none of it.

"Not my problem," she said. "I'm just trying to run a respectable business up here, which you two keep getting in the way of by constantly interrupting me."

"What business? You're only up here because you got yourself banished trying to steal the Triton," Jackie shot back.

Janna raised a finger in the air, correcting the white-haired mermaid, "No, being banished just meant I couldn't be in Atlantica anymore, ... I _chose_ to come live topside because the ocean is dumb and boring." She looked over to the blond. "Which I'm sure you already know, considering you keep coming up here."

Star twitched nervously, her hands fiddling with the strap of her purse. She would be lying if she said she wasn't bored of the same old place, hence why she had taken such a strong fascination with the surface world. But she also knew that her mother would never allow her only daughter to leave Atlantica, especially to move to the surface, a place she despised with every fiber of her being. No matter how much she wanted to, she was stuck where she was at.

Still that didn't stop her curiosity any, making her venture outside of her mother's established boundaries, breaking the rules in the hopes of satisfying her overwhelming need to know more. She knew her mother would not approve of her coming to the surface, of her collecting human things, and most certainly would be opposed to her speaking to the banished mermaid traitor. But part of her wanted to be rebellious, to for once live outside her mother's suffocating rules and regulations to keep her safe and just... be herself.

"I just... want to know..." she said softly and Janna nodded in understanding.

"Hence, why you're here." She held out a waiting hand, saying patiently, "Now, my payment?"

Star reached into her purse and pulled out a shiny, gleaming pearl handing it over to Janna, who eyed it meticulously, tapping a finger against it, before grinning widely. "Okay then, lay it on me, princess."

Star handed over her bag to the other mermaid, the girl digging around inside it and pulling out the small fork. She examined it closely, while the two waited patiently for her explanation. Well, Jackie waited patiently, Star was jittery as she stared at her wide-eyed, fiddling with her wet and tangled hair.

Janna tapped a finger to her chin, trying to think of a good name for the object, before saying simply, "Dingelhoper." She tossed it back to the blond, who caught it with ease, staring at it as if it were the most priceless treasure ever made.

"Dinglehoper," Star muttered wistfully.

"What's it do?" Jackie asked, cocking her head to the side as she stared at the small, metal object.

"Straitens your hair out," Janna replied instantly, digging around in the purse again, before pulling out another metal object twisted into a couple of loops. _Another paperclip?_ she thought, raising an eyebrow. That had to be like the ninth one they had found this week. _How the heck did they keep ending up out to sea?_ Star looked up, noticing the object in the her hands.

"Oh yeah, I found another thingamabob back on the ship too, want it?" Star asked, giving her an earnest smile. "I got like twenty at this point."

"No thanks," Janna said, before stuffing it back into the purse and handing it back to the blond royal. "Don't really need it." She lifted the pearl back up, studying it closely. "This baby is all I need to get by."

"What good does a pearl do you?" Jackie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Observe," Janna replied, holding the shiny object up, as a dozen seagull flew in out of nowhere, dive-bombing the pearl, squawking loudly the same word over and over again, "Mine! Mine! Mine!"

"Turns out, seagulls are attracted to shiny things!" Janna shouted above the loud, obnoxious birds, while Star and Jackie covered their ears, cringing openly. "And with it I can get them to bring me all kinds of food." She held out her other hand, keeping her eyes on the two mermaids. A second later, one of the birds dropped a hotdog onto her hand, her smirk never leaving the two. She lowered the pearl out of sight and just like that, the birds scattered, leaving her alone again. Her hair was now even messier and covered in feathers but she didn't seem to notice this as she took a bite of her food, giving the two a knowing look.

"Well that's... one way to get by," Star said hesitantly, while Jackie just stared at the girl incredulously.

Janna shrugged, simply replying, "Hey don't knock it until you try it."

…

Deep within the shiny gold city of Atlantic, where all mermaids dwelled and in the very heart of its esteemed castle, a certain member of the castle staff was swimming back and forth just outside the throne room, while another watched them in disinterest, the former muttering to themselves in worry. "I can't believe she just disappeared like that," he continued his quiet rant. "Does she just not care about my job, about how much trouble she was gonna get in or get _me_ in for that matter?!"

"Awww, relax Johnny," Ponyhead, a blue seahorse and close personal friend of Star, said to the worrisome dolphin. "You worry too much. Must be from breathing in so much surface air."

The dolphin ignored the comment, before complaining, "But Star has gone too far this time! She knew how important today was and after I spent _week_ s, with little to no sleep, preparing my most thrilling presentation of ocean safety yet, and she has the audacity to run away from home to go treasure hunting!"

Pony rolled her eyes, before scoffing, "Geez, your complaining is giving me a headache. Look you can still give your dumb presentation as soon as B-fly gets back."

"But I don't have that long!" Johnny angrily exclaimed. "I'm expected to go out there any second and if she isn't here by then than my whole career as safety manager for the castle is over!"

"Uhh, I don't see what the big deal is?" Pony pointed out, with an uncaring roll of her eyes. "So the girl has a little freedom for herself, so what?"

"The big deal is if my new safety implications can't even keep Star here and out of trouble than how can I expect the Queen to take me seriously!"

"Your a porpoise in a suit, I think that ship has long since sailed."

"This isn't a joke, Pony!"

"Hey, I'm only here cause I promised my girl that I would cover for her so she could go and live a little reckless for once, making fun of you is just added bonus!"

Johnny growled, before turning back to the entrance that led to the throne chamber and gulped loudly. He was so gonna end up fired. Or electrocuted by the Triton. Or banished from Atlantic forever. He could almost picture it now, him standing in front of a judge after a terrible and tragic accident had befallen the princess and him being sentenced to the Great Barrier Reef Prison or worse...

If Star didn't get back soon, he was gonna be in deep trouble.

"How much longer can your boyfriend stall?" he asked, worriedly.

"Ah don't worry about him, Seahorse can put a whole school of fish to sleep. He's even more boring than you."

Johnny glared at her, saying suspiciously, "I'm starting to think you are the bad influence in Princess Star's life."

"Hey, Pony!" a cheerful voice suddenly called and the two swerved to see Star and Jackie swimming up and Johnny let out a relieved sigh, muttering, "Oh thank kelp."

"Hey B-fly!" Pony called enthusiastically. "Get any good finds from that shipwreck!"

"Pony, shhh," Star reminded her, putting a finger to her lips, both her and Jackie quickly hushing her. "Top secret, remember?"

"Oh yeah, right," the seahorse quickly said, giving her a sheepish look. "My bad."

"Where have you been, young lady?" Johnny scolded and Star gave him a confused look, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhh, we're the same age," she pointed out.

"Don't change the subject," the dolphin continued. "You were supposed to be back here an hour ago!"

"We got held up," Jackie said simply.

"And anyways, I'm here now so what's the big deal?" Star asked, unconcerned with Johnny's lecture, swimming forward and into the throne room, the dolphin following after her as he continued his rant.

"The big deal is if you hadn't gotten back in time, I could have been fireeee-" his voice trailed off as he caught sight of the Queen's regal and biting glare, so busy educating Star he hadn't even realized they had entered the throne room. He visibly froze and if they hadn't been underwater would have been noticeably sweating, chuckling nervously.

Moon's inquisitive eyes jumped between both her daughter and servant, before returning to Seahorse, who was droning on about a decreasing in pearl population or some other such nonsense, when the queen interrupted. "Thank you Seahorse for that... interesting lecture, but now I would like to speak with my daughter if you don't mind."

"Of course, happy to be of service, You Highness," Seahorse said in the same monotones drone that she had been listening to for the last hour an a half, nearly driving her mad and wonder more than once the implications of using the powerful weapon positioned in easy reach from her throne on one of her subjects. He bowed, before starting to swim out of the room when he caught up with Jackie and his girlfriend Pony, who were watching quietly from the entrance.

"Hello darling!" he greeted Pony Head, his tone and infliction never changing in the slightest.

"Sup, Seahorse," she replied, almost uncaring, more focused on the drama between mamma and daughter that was about to take place, but Seahorse didn't seem to notice or mind.

"Did I do a good job?" the appropriately named Seahorse asked, his voice never losing its empty, business-like tone that was off-putting to nearly everyone. And if that didn't do it then his unblinking, blank stare and forced smile could make anyone uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I mean only because of my brilliant planning and stuff," she got a cocky look at that statement. "You were just as boring as I was hoping you would be, maybe even better."

"I aim to please," he said simply, his fake smile widening almost creepily.

Meanwhile Star was staring into the reprimanding gaze of her mother. "Star," her mother began and Star let out a mental sigh. _Here we go_.

"Where have you been?" she asked, her eyebrow raising in that condescending way she hated. "You were supposed to be back an hour ago." Johnny sucked in a breath, looking like he was about to pass out. He couldn't believe she had noticed. Of course she had noticed, the queen saw everything. Oh man, he was so going to be fired.

Star stayed calm, though, as she merely shrugged and said, "I was just out hanging with Jackie and we lost track of time, no biggie."

Moon's eyes narrowed. "There is a 'biggie' here, Star. A proper princess is punctual at all times. How can you be expected to run a whole kingdom if you can't even arrive on time?"

Star crossed her arms in front of her chest, giving her mom a stubborn look. "So I was a little late, it's not the end of the world, mom."

Moon let out a long sigh. "It is when you are in charge," she explained, sounding exasperated with her daughter. "You will be queen someday, you need to learn the right way to behave."

"Oh what, like you. Dad told me all about how you used to be reckless and irresponsible when you were my age."

"Don't change the subject, Star!" Moon shouted, quickly losing patience for her daughter. "And yes, I was that way and I had to learn the hard way what it takes to be a good leader. I just want to spare the same thing happening for you."

"Gee, thanks," Star muttered bitterly.

"Now then," Moon continued, ignoring her daughter's behavior. "Tell me, what exactly were you doing that made you so late?" Moon asked, her eyes searching and Star froze up for a second. This caused Johnny to pale immensely, his already uncomfortable look multiplying tenfold, as his eyes jumped frantically between mother and daughter.

"Just... doing stuff with Jackie," the princess replied as calmly as she could.

"And that would be..." her mother pried. "I mean if it was interesting enough to make you break one of your duties as a princess, then it must have been _very_ important." The way Moon emphasized the last word, Star began to worry that she had already figured out the truth. She would have to be very careful with her answer.

"Oh you know, just-"

"Searching for seashells!" Pony quickly interrupted, positioning herself between her bestie and her scolding mother.

"Pony what are you doing?" Star whispered worriedly and Pony confidently answered, "I got you girlfriend. Just leave it to me."

"Seashells?" Moon repeated skeptically.

"Yeah but not just any shells," Jackie quickly cut in, joining in on the lie. "They were for a necklace Star was gonna make for your birthday." She paused before quickly adding, "Uh, Your Highness."

Moon's eyes widened in surprise at this, turning to her daughter. "Is this true?"

"Uhh-" Star said, until an elbow from Jackie, made her blurt out, "YES! Of course it is mom. That's, uh, that's why we had to keep it a secret from you, so we wouldn't spoil the surprise."

They all gave the queen innocent grins, all hoping she bought the lie. For a few uncomfortable seconds, Moon said nothing and the three began to mentally panic, until she finally responded, her face and voice conveying how unsure she felt in this situation. "Well, I'm... sorry that I spoiled your surprise."

Star chuckled awkwardly, waving an arm in the air. "Aww, it's fine, mom. I'll just find another gift for you. No big deal, it's all good." She could tell she was starting to ramble and feeling increasingly awkward, she sought out an escape goat from the situation, quickly blurting out the first name that came to mind, "Right Johnny?" The blond turned to the dolphin, who had staying oddly quiet the whole time. His mouth was sealed shut, both flippers over it and his body was shaking as he seemed to be struggling to hold the truth in. Star saw her mother's suspicious glare and quickly tried to make light of the moment, "Uh, haha, yeah. Anyways, I should probably be heading back to-"

"Star went to the surface!" the dolphin finally blurted, startling everyone. "What?!" Moon cried in concern, while Star and the others all shot him a death glare. "Johnny!" they shouted.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it! My conscious got the better of me!" Johnny cried.

"Starrrr," Moon began in a warning tone and the princess whimpered in fear.

"Uh, bye mom, we'll talk later, I got princess lessons to do!" Star quickly shouted, trying to quickly escape the room, but her mother's scolding shout, stopped her in her tracks. "Star!"

The girl slowly, guiltily, turned back around to face her mother, the look of pure anger and disappointment on her face, enough to make even the most evil of creatures cower in guilt. It was a look that Star dreaded and one she never seemed to be able to avoid, still that didn't mean it didn't sting every time she had to look at it.

"Come here," her mother demanded and Star slowly obeyed, approaching her mom with a lowered gaze.

"You know that you can't go to the surface for any reason, it's forbidden!" Moon began, her tone sharp and her gaze stony. "You could have been seen by a human, you could have compromised our entire world!"

"Yes, but I didn't," Star argued. "I was really careful, no humans saw me, I swear! And anyways I was only up there for like a couple of minutes!"

"That doesn't matter, Star!" Moon shot back, her anger rising to new levels and Star visibly flinched at the tone. "You could have died! Murdered by those barbarians!"

Star had to bite her lip to keep from blurting that not all humans were barbarians and that she had no right to judge a bunch of people she had never even met before. "You think that is what I want to see happen to you, Star!" Moon added, her voice cracking with emotion, the fear in tone obvious now. "To see you dying at the hands of those vile humans!"

Star felt a tinge of sympathy and regret, but it was easily overshadowed by her anger and she quickly snapped back, "I'm not a little kid anymore, mom! I can make decisions for myself!"

"Not when you are purposely breaking rules made to keep you safe!"

"Well, it's a dumb rule anyway!" Star crossed her arms stubbornly in front of her chest. "Just because some humans are bad, doesn't mean all of them are."

Moon let out a long sigh, burying her face in her hands. She didn't say a word for a moment and when she did finally speak again, Star could hear the exhaustion in her voice, "Star, those rules exist to protect us. Whether it is right or not, we can not take that risk. It is for the good of the kingdom that we remain separate. To protects our world and keep any one of us from ending up dead in some fishing net, do you understand?"

Star hesitated before sadly answering, "Yes, I understand."

"Then I want you to promise me you will never go near the surface ever again, are we clear?"

Star opened her mouth to argue, but her mother's gaze narrowed and she harshly repeated, "Is that clear?"

Star rolled her eyes with a huff, before saying, "Yes, mom."

"Good, then you may go," Moon said dismissively. "Permitted that you stay safe and keep out of trouble."

Star didn't even reply as she turned her back on her mom and angrily swam out of the room, her posse of friends following right after.

Moon leaned back in her throne once she was alone again, looking utterly exhausted and lost. "Ugh, what am I going to do with that girl?" she asked herself, worriedly.

But suddenly, her attention was drawn to the sweating Johnny, who was still watching her wide-eyed. There was an awkward pause between them, before the dolphin quickly chuckled nervously. "Um so about my suggestions for safety-"

"I'm afraid that your services are no longer required," Moon curtly responded and Johnny looked panic-stricken. He quickly threw himself at the queen's fins, bowing low and begging wildly, "No, please, my queen! I swear I can make it up to you! Just give me another chance to prove my worth to you!"

Moon gave him an annoyed look, before the begging became too much and she finally said, "All right. I will give you one more change."

Johnny's face brightened at that. "Oh thank you, Your-"

"If you can keep my daughter out of trouble and, most importantly, away from the surface," Moon continued, and Johnny's mouth dropped open against his will.

He quickly shut it, though, saying, "Um, well, I was thinking maybe I could just... give a few lectures on how to-"

"Do you wish to remain as a member of this staff or not?" Moon asked in annoyance and Johnny quickly swallowed.

"Y-Y-Yes, Your Highness, I very much do," he said softly.

"Then I suggest you hurry and catch up with my daughter. She did get quite the head start while you were busy ogling." Moon looked away from the porpoise, staring off into space, signaling that the conversation was over. Johnny paused only for a second, before making the very smart move of bowing and leaving the queen to her thoughts.

Though he let out a very loud groan the second he was out of earshot _. Great now his entire future career depended on one reckless, headstrong teenage. What else could possibly go wrong?_

…

Star swam huffily through the streets of Atlantica ignoring all the friendly merfolk waving to her, too angry with her mom to notice anything else. "Ugh, who does she think she is?!" Star yelled, throwing her arms up in the air in frustration.

"The Queen of Altlantica and your mother," Seahorse instantly replied and Star shot him a glare.

"Not now, boo, can't you see the girl is ranting," Pony quickly reprimanded him.

"Oh, my apologies," her boyfriend quickly replied blankly, before going silent.

"Look Star, I know her thinking is flawed but she is just trying to look out for you," Jackie supplied, putting an hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Yeah, but I don't need her too!" Star exclaimed back. "I can take care of myself and besides, humans aren't the monsters she says they are."

"What did you call me?!" an angry barracuda who had overheard part of the conversation quickly shouted, turning to glare at them.

"Nothing, mind your own business!" Pony snapped, which only managed to enrage the dangeous and deadly fish all the more.

Jackie put an arm up between her friend and the fish, giving him an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, sir. We weren't talking about you, we swear." The barracuda still looked skeptical so Jackie quickly added, "And may I just say that you have very fine and lovely scales."

The fish glared for a few more seconds, before his face melted into a smile, which was still terrifying to look at, but at least they no longer had to worry about him attacking them now. "Oh, well, thank you. No one ever says that about me." He looked genuinely happy and slightly embarrassed and he quickly cleared his throat saying in a gruff voice once more, "Ahem, carry on." He then swam past the group and they watched him go, before Jackie sighed in relief. She gave Pony Head a glare, asking in annoyance, "What was that, Pony? Were you trying to get yourself eaten?"

"Ahh, whatever I could have taken him," Pony replied with her usual Pony smugness that was one of her many annoying trademarks.

"Actually I think you would have been eaten alive, dearest," Seahorse said and Pony shouted at him, "What did I say about interrupting the moment?!"

"Guys, can we please stay focused on my problem," Star reminded them with slight annoyance and they all turned to her in surprise.

"Oh yeah, sorry, guess we got a little off track there, girl. That is my bad, B-Fly," Pony quickly admitted.

"So what are we going to do now?" Jackie asked, giving her royal friend a long, questioning gaze. "I mean, you promised your mom you wouldn't go up there anymore. Are you going to do it anyways?"

Star let out a long sigh, swimming forward with an unsure and troubled look. She was about to respond to the mermaid when, another voice quickly cut in, "Oh look at that, if it isn't, Little Miss Perfect."

Star groaned, dreading talking to the owner of that voice, who she recognized in an instant. Brittney Wong. Great, as if she didn't have enough problems to deal with. She slowly turned to glare at the mermaid before her, who stood there in the same cocky, holier-than-thou pose that she always had and Star held back rolling her eyes. It was no secret the two had been rivals for years and never got along in any regard whatsoever. It wasn't like Star hadn't tried, in the beginning she had been friendly and optimistic as she was with everyone, believing the two would become close almost instantaneously. But this hope was dashed as Brittney's stuck-up attitude caught Star by surprise and began to slowly push her away.

She didn't understand why the mermaid was so bitter and hateful toward her, but the more and more Brittney pushed the more angry Star became and she quickly began fighting back, using the rejection as fuel for the fire inside her as she bit back every comment with equal disgust and vexation as the snob. Since then, their confrontations had only gotten worse with time.

"Oh, Brittney, it's you," Star began calmly, keeping a forced smile on her lips. "From your voice I was sure a seal or something was wailing at us for a handout."

The black-haired mermaid glared at the grinning blond, scoffing as she said distastefully, "Well my voice can't be as bad as that outfit, what's the deal, princess? Did mommy not teach you how to stylize your shells?"

Star crossed her arms but it was Pony who quickly retorted, "Ha, like she'd taken fashion advice from someone who wears make-up underwater. Like seriously, what's that about?"

"Yeah, Brittney, what's that about?" Star repeated, equally mocking as her friend and she quickly gave Pony's extended fin a high-five.

"Not to mention, her choice in braiding her hair in shells that went out of style exactly 2.5 hours ago," Seahorse added and Pony let out a loud gasp.

"Ooooh, good thing we are underwater, because that was a harsh burn," the blue seahorse snapped, with a cocky grin.

Brittney seemed to be growing more and more angry by the second, her entire body shaking as she tried to fight back the intense hatred she felt. "Why don't you freaks stay out of this?!" she quickly shouted and Pony's eyes quickly narrowed, a furious snarl on her face.

"I better not have just heard those words come out of your bratty, snobby face," Pony hissed, Jackie having to hold her back to keep a fight from breaking out.

Brittney just smirked arrogantly, flipping her hair as she swam over to Star, who looked the angriest she had ever been. If there was one weak point you didn't touch, it was Star's friends. "Honestly, Star, I don't know why you hang around these losers, are you that desperate for friends your willing to hang out with a bunch of bottom-feeders," the snobby girl said, tutting sarcastically, feigning worry.

"I hang out with them because they're real friends, something you wouldn't know about considering you don't seem to be able to make any," Star shot back.

"How sad," Brittney continued, seemingly ignoring the royals last comment. "You know, everyone around here talks about you. Says that you've got a thing for humans."

Star rolled her eyes. "Whatever Brittney, you must be pretty gullible to believe a bunch of gossip," Star scoffed, trying to dodge the question as best she could. "Did you also believe that crab that said we were going to be invaded by jellyfish last week?"

"Oh please, you can't seriously think I'm that stupid," Brittney retorted.

"Coulda fooled me," Pony suddenly snapped and the bratty mermaid ignored her, as she tried to swim around Star, who quickly turned her body with her, trying to hide her purse behind her back.

"So where you heading off to, princess?" Brittney asked, intrusively, still trying to get a good look at what was behind her fellow mermaid's back. "And what's that you got behind your back? Some secret your ashamed to let everyone see."

"None of your business!" Star snapped. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got better stuff to do than stay here and be picked apart by you!"

She quickly swam past her and Jackie followed, moving so she was blocking the purse from the others prying eyes. Pony and Seahorse followed swiftly after, the former shooting the first a mocking, superior grin which only further infuriated the black-haired girl. She crossed her arms, watching her rival swimming away as she muttered under her breath, "I will find out whatever weird thing your hiding, princess. Just you wait."

…

Johnny panted wildly as he swam through the underwater streets of Atltantica, his eyes searching for any signs of the blond princess anywhere, but for some reason she was no where to be found. "Oh man, oh man," Johnny muttered to himself as he continued his frantic hunt for the missing mermaid, his mind jumping to the worst possible scenario. "This is bad. Where is she? What if she already went back to the surface. If the queen finds out she'll have my head!" The dolphin groaned covering his face with his fins in frustration and worry. But as he removed them, he miraculously spotted Star and the others swimming out of the city and into deeper waters, a black-haired mermaid watching them go in disgust, before flipping her hair and swimming off in the other direction.

Johnny almost laughed out loud in relief as he quickly followed after the girl. He did his best to match their quick pace as they got further and further away from the safety of Altlantica, but he was finding it difficult to keep up with them his cushy job in the palace leaving him out of shape for most physical activities. He quickly began to fear he would lose sight of them altogether as they made odd twists and turns as if trying to lose someone tailing them, the four disappearing out of his sights for a couple seconds at a time before he found them again. And when they disappeared around an outcropping of rocks on the ocean floor, not emerging after several seconds (far longer than any of the previous times), he panicked and swam forward with frantic vigor.

He peeked around the edge of the rock, watching the princess and her friends and whatever scheme they were up to this time. _Probably with the intention of getting me fired_ , he thought bitterly. The princess did a quick look around to make sure nobody was watching, before her and her white-haired friend tugged a large boulder up and out of the way, revealing a hidden entrance, Johnny gasping in surprise. Pony and Seahorse wordlessly swam inside, followed after by Jackie and then Star letting the rock fall back into place. Johnny propelled himself forward with all the energy left in his body, just barely managing to squeeze past the rock and into the large cave hideout of the princess. He let out a sigh of relief, wiping his forehead with his fin, before trying to swim forward. Only to be jerked back sporadically and he turned back to see the end of his tail caught in the large rock. He began pulling and tugging on his tail trying to free his trapped limb, grunting quietly so as to not alert Star to his presence.

But just as it grew an inch free and Johnny almost let out a squeal of delight, the rock moved, crushing the limb more and making the dolphin cry out in pain, his loud voice echoing around the room.

Jackie's head jerked back toward the way they had come, hearing the eery scream bouncing around the walls of the cave and she asked, "Did you hear that?"

"Eh, it was probably nothing," Ponyhead replied nonchalantly.

Jackie shrugged before following after her friend. The four entered into the main part of the cave, a large open space, lit by a small hole above, letting the filtered light pour into the area, lighting it with an otherworldly glow. Every inch of the cave was covered in trinkets from the race above, human items of all shapes and sizes coated the walls and sandy floor, the princess's vast collection from years and years of exploring and scouring every sunken ship she could get her hands on scattered about the large open space, displayed in their full glory. Jackie gazed around in wonder for a moment, quite impressed with the vast treasure trove. No matter how many times she saw it, it never lost it's grandiosity.

Star didn't seem to feel the same, not even gazing at the items as she simply reached into her purse and pulled out the small dinglhoper she had received and setting it in place with two similar looking objects, one flat and the other rounded at the top. She let out a long sigh, as she gently pocked one of it sharp tips absentmindedly, thinking to herself, her face sent into a deep frown that was so unlike her.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Jackie asked, sitting down next to her downtrodden friend.

"I don't know," Star said sadly. But there was slight venom in her tone as she added, "Mom is just being dumb and overreacting like she always does."

"Maybe it will blow over in a few days," Jackie suggested, though it sounded weak coming from her. They both knew that wasn't true.

Still, Star allowed herself to cling onto the foolish hope for a moment, responding hesitantly, "Maybe."

"Aw, who cares what your mom thinks," Pony suddenly chimed in. "It's your life, B-Fly. I say you do what you want. So what if you break a few laws? It's not like you haven't done it before." She gestured around the room with her snout, the thousands of illegal trinkets glimmering in the faded light.

"That's true," Star said softly, clearly considering her friend's words. She let out a loud groan, falling back and onto the sandy floor. "Ugh, she just doesn't get it!" the blond exclaimed in annoyance. "She wants me to stay underwater and away from the humans but, I don't get how the surface can be so bad when they make all this cool stuff."

"Yeah, like this thing, whatever it is," Pony said, moving closer to a small box with a handle in the side.

"Oh that's a surprise box," Star explained.

"What's the surprise?" Pony asked, gently nudging the handle, which began turning on its own, provoking an off-key jingle.

"It would seem it produces some kind of music," Seahorse said, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, I can see th-" Pony was cut off, as the box suddenly sprang open, as a small puppet attached to a spring jumping out and startling the cocky Ponyhead, who released a loud scream.

"That's the surprise," Star said as her and Jackie laughed at the panting Ponyhead.

"Yeah, okay. I knew that the whole time, that's why I played along, to y'know cheer you up and stuff," Pony quickly said, clearly trying to cover up the embarrassing moment.

Star swam over to the box, closing it up once more. "See, humans make all kinds of cool things. Things that mermaids and fish can't make."

Star picked up a nearby object, a gun with a hook in it. "Like this thing."

"What's that do?" Pony asked.

"I have no idea," Star admitted, setting it back down. "Or, or how about this?" the girl quickly grabbed another object, a small pocketwatch. "Look at this gizmo, see? We couldn't make something like this in Atlantica."

"Or how about this?" Star said, gesturing to the painting in front of her, one with a woman warming her hands over a small flame. "Humans can make fire, for crying out loud! Why can't we make fire?!"

"Cause we live underwater?" Pony said, now decked out in as much jewelry as she could wear, stealing it off the shelves when Star wasn't looking.

"Or, or what about-"

"Star," Jackie said, silencing her friend as she put a hand on her shoulder, knowing she could go on forever if she wasn't stopped. "We get it. We know you love human stuff."

Star let out a loud sigh. "I just wish I could go up there, y'know? See all the wonders of the human world, instead of being stuck down here with the same old boring ocean."

Jackie nodded. "I know," she said, understanding clear in her tone.

"Well then do what you want B-Fly and don't tell your mom!" Pony shouted enthusiastically. "If she doesn't find out than what is there to worry about?"

"Yeah," Star said softly, deep in thought. But her voice was stronger as she said again. "Yeah. Yeah!" she practically shouted. "It's my life I can do what I want!"

"You go girl!" Pony yelled in support.

"Who cares about the rules?! This rebel princess makes her own rules!" Star cheered, jabbing a finger at herself.

"Technically speaking, the princess does have slight authority for making decisions in certain circumstances," Seahorse pointed out.

"Which I'm pretty sure doesn't count in this case, right?" Jackie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That would be correct," Seahorse droned out.

"Well still, promise or no promise I'm not giving up going to the surface. It's just too important to me," Star declared with a finality, crossing her arms determinedly in front of her chest. But it switched to a bright smile as she couldn't help but squeal over her decision, glad she didn't have to give up on the one thing that made her happy. "Oh man, if mom could hear me she would be so mad," Star said with a small giggle.

"That is correct!" Johnny shouted as he swam into view, making his presence known. The others all gasped in shock at seeing him floating there, Star exclaiming, "Johnny?! Wh-What are you doing here?"

"Your mom told me to keep an eye on you, so I followed you here," the dolphin explained.

"Well it's not what it looks like," Star quickly blurted out, trying to cover her tracks as best she could. "We were just... um, getting ready to throw all these human things away, since I won't be going to the surface anymore, right guys?" She turned to them for help, her eyes pleading for them to play along.

The others obeyed, quickly nodding in agreement, but Johnny just continued to glare at them, saying, "Save it. I heard what you were talking about."

Star let out a short, awkward chuckle, before asking, "How much did you hear?" She was poking her fingertips together sheepishly as she waited for a response.

"All of it," Johnny said with narrowing eyebrows.

"Oh," Star muttered in defeat, visibly deflating.

"And you should be ashamed of yourself, going behind the queen's back like that," Johnny scolded, waving a disapproving flipper at them.

"Only because mom is being stupid and making a bunch of dumb rules," Star argued, crossing her arms childishly in front of her.

"She is trying to protect you, again if you had just followed my previous rules we wouldn't have this problem. All you had to do was listen to me and everything would be fine, but noooo, instead you had to be rebellious and do whatever you want so-"

Star, Jackie and Pony shared a look, knowing they had just lost him to the rant for who knows how long, as he swam back and forth around the cave, overemphasizing his speech with wild gestures from his fins. They all tuned him out as he droned on about every single security measure he had ever implemented in great and excruciating detail, only Seahorse actively listening, watching with interest, even nodding every so often.

"This is gonna take forever," Pony groaned in annoyance, rolling her eyes.

"Hey at least he isn't busting us to Star's mom," Jackie pointed out.

Suddenly, the entire cave went dark and the three girls looked up to see their only light source covered up by some large shape at the top of the waves. Star gasped. "A boat!" she exclaimed in joy. Ships almost never sailed this far out to sea, so seeing one intact was quite the rarity for her. "Oh man, we have to go see it!" The desperation and need shimmered in her eyes as she looked back over to the still-distracted Johnny, who hadn't noticed a thing as he carried on with his rant.

"Come on, at this rate the turd won't even notice we're gone," Pony pointed out and Star nodded in agreement. Besides, who knows when her next chance to see a ship up close would be. It was worth the risk. Star and Jackie easily slipped past the dolphin, making for the exit, Pony stopping to rip her boyfriend away from his mindful observation before pulling him after the others, Seahorse never blinking or breaking gaze from the dolphin until he was out of sight.

Johnny after a moment, finally wound down, finishing up the speech he was currently giving to the treasure trove and trinkets, way off topic from where he had started from as his rambling came to a close. "And that's how to avoid being stung by an angry, vengeful jellyfish. Any questions, You Highness?" he looked over to where the four had been only to see empty water and he panicked, looking around the room frantically. "Your Highness? Star?" But when he received no answer and came to the quick realization that he was alone, he groaned in defeat. "They ditched me," he whined in disgust before quickly swimming out of the cave after them.

Once back in open waters he spotted the four instantly, seeing them heading up to the surface where a large and familiar shape cut through the waves, as well as unfamiliar bright flashes of multicolored lights, which colored the ocean in its hue with every few second bursts. "Oh no," Johnny groaned in worry. "Princess, stop!" he tried to plead with her only to get an exited and unconcerned response, as the girl shouted joyfully, "Come on, Johnny! You won't want to miss this!"

Johnny just cringed knowing he had no way to stop the headstrong teenager. "This princess is gonna get me killed," he observed. But, because it was now his duty to do so, he followed after the four, dreading what they would find topside and just hoping it didn't lead to any of them tapped in a net or on a hook.

…

The moment Star surfaced, she became enchanted by what she saw, her eyes glittering as she watched the bright explosions in the sky, her mouth gaped open in shock and awe. The others surfaced around her, also seemingly captivated by the fireworks, all except Johnny who was watching the whole thing nervously.

"Wow, they're beautiful," Star murmured in whispered wonder.

"Yeah really pretty," Johnny said, though his voice lacked any enthusiasm or emotion toward the sight. "Can we go now?"

"Wait a minute, we just got here," Star insisted, swimming closer to the boat.

"Stop, princess! Come back!" the dolphin shouted after the mergirl, holding a fin out uselessly as if trying to will her back, though he was too frightened of the boat to move closer to it himself.

Star meanwhile, put a hand against the smooth wood and let out a small giggle. She couldn't believe this was really happening to her. After all this time, she was finally able to see a real boat up close, well one that was in one piece that is. Suddenly she could hear a janky tune above and her gaze and interest was immediately drawn upward, where she could almost hear the exited chatter of the human's over the loud popping of the fireworks.

Johnny just continued to groan and fidget with worry, his eyes darting around in paranoia, as he begged the girl, "Star, please, what if someone sees us? We should just go home already."

"Aw relax, J. You worry too much," Pony said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, Star is a big girl she can handle herself," Jackie added, reassuringly.

But Johnny was having none of it, putting his flipper down as he commanded, "No way! I am not losing my job over this. I am taking the princess back to Atlantica and that's final! And once I tell the queen, she'll-"

"Fire you," Pony finished for him and the dolphin visibly froze. He hadn't thought about that.

"I mean you did let the princess come to the surface, after all," Jackie pointed out.

"Only because you guys ditched me!" Johnny loudly defended himself.

"Yeah, can't wait to hear you talk your way out of that one," Pony said with a roll of her eyes.

Johnny was visibly unsettled by that. What was he thinking? He couldn't tell the queen about this. She had said that this was his last chance and if she found out he had already failed his task less than an hour since she assigned it... well, he didn't want to think about the consequences. "Oh my gosh you're right," he admitted with horror. "I can't tell the queen about this, she'll kill me!"

"Yeah so just don't tell her and it can be our little secret," Jackie suggested with a shrug.

Johnny quickly nodded. "Y-Yeah, okay. We'll just leave and pretend like none of this ever happened."

"That's going to be pretty hard to do," Seahorse suddenly spoke up.

"What, why?" Jackie asked in confusion.

"Cause Star is currently climbing the ship," Seahorse explained.

"What?!" the others shouted, whirling around to see that the boring fish was right, Star was currently scaling the side of the boat, using her arms to pull her now useless tail up the length of the boat.

"Star, get down from there?!" Johnny screamed, but Star ignored him, only hearing the playful laughter and infectious music above, drawing her in closer and egging on her curiosity. When she finally reached the side, she hauled herself up enough that she could peer over without being seen, her tail resting on a convenient slab of wood beneath her. From there she could only watch in awe as the humans danced around the ship, laughing and partying it seemed, while others played some sort of collection of instruments, most of which Star didn't recognize at all. The blond also didn't recognize the tune, but after a moment, found herself humming along with it, its upbeat, janky notes catchy and impossible to resist.

She studied each human closely, watching their movements, particularly from their legs and feet, their weird motions they were making foreign and yet intriguing. But as her eyes roamed over the crowd of happy-go-lucky sailors she spotted one in the crowd who looked unhappy to be there, even in the midst of his fellow partying men. He was a young boy looking no older than 15. Right at Star's own age, she realized. He had brown hair and eyes along with tanned skin. He wore a fancy looking white suit, complete with cape and tight restrictive looking black boots. Star also noted with interest that he had a small little dot on his left cheek that was absolutely adorable.

Who was she kidding, all of him was adorable, he looked so handsome in his outfit and Star felt herself blushing at this train of thought. He was the first human boy she had ever seen before and she found there was something about him that seemed to draw her in. But at the same time, for as cute and interesting as he was, she also noticed just how sad and alone he looked standing all by himself, his eyes studying the crowded deck with disinterest. Star didn't understand why he didn't just join in on the fun, but for whatever reason, he simply rubbed at his arm absentmindedly, before quickly stopping himself and looking around as if afraid someone had seen him.

He kept his posture stiff after that, continuing to watch the celebration he seemed to be left out of and Star felt a twinge of sympathy for the boy. She wished she could go over and comfort him, but that simply wasn't a possibility, not unless she wanted to reveal her identity to the entire boat. So instead, she just followed him with her eyes as he made his way around the eager partygoers and over to the edge of the boat, leaning against the railing with a deep sigh, now directly over where Star was perched.

The mergirl sucked in a breath as the handsome boy unknowingly hovered over her, she felt her face beginning to break out into a sweat over how close he was to her, almost able to feel his presence through the thick wood. She looked down below where Johnny stood mouth agape at the sight and looking on the verge of passing out. Jackie had dunked beneath the surface to avoid being spotted, but Pony was winking at her and giving her encouraging, meaningful smiles to tell her that the boy was cute and she approved which only made Star's cheeks blush lobster red. She risked a look up and instantly caught sight of the boy, his eyes gazing sadly down at the ocean, but despite this the chocolate brown orbs were magnificent and engaging as Star found herself having trouble looking away from them.

The boy just stood there silently for a moment, before he rubbed his eyes tiredly with the palms of his hands, muttering under his breath, "What am I even doing?" He started to walk away and Star sat up so she was peering over the edge again, wanting to follow his every move, when she noticed with concern that he had turned around. His eyes lit up as he spotted her and the mergirl felt her heart stop, whether that was from being found out or being noticed by this boy of all people Star didn't know. "Whoa, be careful!" the boy cried, racing over to her, fear and concern on his face. The blond briefly contemplated ducking back out of sight but she was frozen to the spot so it wouldn't do her any good at the moment.

He continued to shout as he reached her, saying, "It's dangerous that close to the edge! You could fall!"

Star finally seemed to recover, ducking enough out of sight that only her head was in view to him. "Oh, um, thank you, but uhhh, I'm fine."

"No, your not," the boy insisted holding out a hand to her. "Here I'll pull you up."

Star started to instinctively reach for his hand but stopped herself, shaking her head freeing of any distracting thoughts and saying, "No, really I'm good, just pretend I'm not here and you didn't see anything." She chuckled nervously, hoping the boy bought it and just left her alone.

Instead, his eyebrows just pinched together in the cutest way and he looked over at the other sailors, who hadn't paid him any mind, before getting down on hands and knees and asking in a soft whisper, "Are you a stowaway?"

"A what?" Star asked in confusion.

"Did you sneak onboard this ship?" the boy asked, instead.

"Ohhhh,"the blond said in realization, before hesitantly replying, "Uhhh, sorta," She looked down at her tail with a grimace.

"Well, don't worry your secrets safe with me," the boy said softly, a small smile on his lips.

"Secret, what secret? I don't have any secrets," the mergirl replied way too fast.

The boy gave her a confused look. "Uh, about you being a stowaway."

"Oh rightttt. Yeah let's go with that."

The boy gave her an incredulous look, but didn't press her on her odd behavior instead saying, "I'm Marco by the way."

"Star," the girl said softly, her cheeks growing red once more.

"Star," Marco repeated, testing out the name on his tongue. "I like that. It's really pretty."

Star giggled nervously, trying to hide her face from view. "Oh, psh, stop it!" she mumbled in embarrassment. She was about to say something more, when she noticed out of the corner of her eye a familiar form over by the buffet table. She felt her heart stop as she realized that Janna was stealing food out in plain sight and she made a tiny little _eep_ noise.

"What, what is it?" Marco asked, starting to turn to see what she was looking at.

"No, no, nothing," the girl nervously exclaimed, grabbing his face and keeping him from looking in that direction. "There's nothing to see."

She watched as Janna caught her eye, shooting her a wink before diving overboard without being spotted. The mergirl let out a sigh of relief, glad that her friend hadn't been caught, that could have been a disaster.

"Uh, can you please let go of my face?" Marco spoke up and Star looked back over to see that she was squishing his face with her hands and she let go with a gasp.

"Oh, uh sorry," the girl said, her cheeks flushing bright red. What was she thinking? She was acting like a total doofus in front of the first human she had ever met.

The boy didn't seem too upset though, just giving her a long look. "What was that all about?" he asked, an eyebrow slowly raising.

"I was just, uh, trying to keep you from being tempted by all that food over there, ha ha," she chuckled nervously, hoping he bought the weak lie.

Marco didn't say anything for a moment, though, finally muttering, "You are a strange one, Star."

"Good strange or bad strange?" she asked, looking at him hopefully.

He smiled. "Definitely good," he replied, earning a smile from the blushing girl. He leaned against the railing of the ship with a far-off look. "In fact, your the first good thing about this trip so far."

"Why? This place looks like so much fun," Star blurted out, looking around at all the dancing humans with longing, wishing she could be one of them.

"Maybe for someone who actually belongs here," Marco muttered sadly. "I'm only here because I'm expected to be. No one ever really asks me what I want."

Star let out a long sigh, propping her elbows on the deck and leaning her head on her hands. "Yeah me too. My mom is always telling me to do this or do that, but she never really listens to what I want."

"Sounds like we're in the same boat," Marco said, before the two began giggling at the accidental pun.

"Yeah, guess we are," Star whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

The two continued to talk for a while, just chatting about their life and all the responsibilities that were being constantly thrust upon them. Star quickly discovered that Marco was actually a prince and that this whole trip was to celebrate his birthday, despite the fact that he hated sailing and had been virtually ignored the whole time only to be scolded or reprimanded by someone named Manfred. Star found herself enjoying herself the longer they talked, the boy so easy to talk to and so opposite what her mother had told her that humans were supposed to be like. He was nice and very fun to be around and she found herself wishing this moment would never end and she could just stay by this human boy's side until the end of time.

"You know, if you don't mind me saying, when you put your hands on my face, they were really pruny," Marco suddenly mentioned out of nowhere.

"Huh, that's strange," Star quickly said, trying to cover her shock.

"Like really pruny," the boy continued. "Almost like you live in the water," he added with a laugh.

The girl's eyes went wide and she let out a quick, fake laugh, feeling sweat dripping down her face. "Yeah, that, that's crazy," she said with a halfhearted scoff. "I mean, we humans don't live in the water, hahahaha."

Marco gave her a suspicious look, able to tell she was hiding something. "Uh, right. We human's sure don't," he said, forcing the weird phrase out of his mouth. He tried to shrug off her off behavior and instead commented, "You must really do a lot of swimming, though."

"Me? Oh yeah, I swim all the time," she said, still with an awkward edge to her tone.

"And you must love the ocean to wear seashells in your hair," he added, pointing to them with a little smile, the girl quickly trying to cover them up with her hands.

"Yeah, I uhh-"

Before the girl could stutter out another answer, there was a roar of thunder behind them and they both turned to see the sky quickly growing dark, already nearly black, out of nowhere. "Wh-What's that?!" Marco asked in worry and Star just sucked in a breath.

"Oh no," she muttered in terror.

Above their heads, the lookout yelled to the rest of the unsettled crew, confirming Star's fears. "Hurricane acomin'! All hands secure the riggin'!"

Rain began pattering the deck of the ship, as panicked sailors ran around trying to tie up the now uncooperative ropes down with little success. Marco stood up, a look of anxious determination on his face, as he turned back to the girl he had just been talking to, offering her a hand. "C'mon, we need to get somewhere safe, before the storm finishes blowing in."

Star looked at his hand eagerly before reluctantly shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Marco," she said, her sad eyes not meeting his. "I can't."

"What, why not?" Marco asked.

"Your Highness!" a voice interrupted behind him and he turned to see Manfred, wobbling over to him on the unsteady deck. He grabbed the boy by the arm trying to forcefully pull him away. Marco fought the grip, trying to reason with the small man. "No wait! Hang on, there was someone who needed my-"

But as he looked back over to the spot Star had just been in, she was now gone. He felt fear and confusion pinch his chest, wondering how she had suddenly disappeared but hoping she was alright. "Star?" he muttered softly.

"Oh dear, he's seeing stars," Manfred said in worry, clicking his tongue and continuing to drag the boy behind him. "I really must get you below decks. Come now, Your Majesty, it will be safer there," Manfred insisted and Marco followed numbly, his head still spinning with unanswered questions and fears.

…

Star dropped back into the water with a splash, ignoring the questioning gazes of her friends and the panicked rant from Johnny, keeping her eyes on the ship and hoping it would be okay, her thoughts and fears solely focused on Marco. The waves were quickly growing higher, slapping against the boat as if trying with all its might to knock it over and sink it. The sturdy vessel held strong though, fighting through the ocean and trying its best to keep coarse through the rough wind.

Star and the others were nearly being dragged away by both the waves and wind but Star fought tooth and nail to stay close by the boat, wanting to see what happened to the desperate crew. She kept her eyes on the ship as she forced her body through wave after wave, fighting the sinister current with every ounce of strength she had, ignoring every limb that was aching and begging her to stop and let her rest.

Meanwhile, the ship didn't seem to be doing much better as it was suddenly lifted up on a particularly large wave before being slammed back down into the water, making the whole ship shudder and groan, threatening to fall apart at any moment. Flashes of lightening and blinding rain filled the sky and the sound of thunder seemed to echo from every direction.

At some point, a lightening bolt must have struck one of the masts, because the boat was slowly being engulfed in flames, even the drenching rain unable to put out the fire, as it eagerly ate away at the wooden vessel. The sailors promptly gave up on saving the boat after that, the men quickly abandoning ship as they loaded themselves into lifeboats and quickly dropping themselves into the crashing waves below, to avoid being licked by any stray patches of fire.

As Star neared the ship, panting heavily and nearly blind from the rain in her eyes, she searched for any signs of Marco, fear clenching her chest as she watched the once proud sailing ship being reduced to ash and fire, and she silently prayed that her friend had made it out okay. Which was why she nearly cried in relief as she finally spotted Marco being led over by someone to the last lifeboat, looking safe and unharmed.

But to her horror, just as Marco went to get into the boat after the man, a sudden shuddering from the ship knocked him off his feet and caused the lines holding the lifeboat up to snap, dropping it in unceremoniously into the ocean. The man screamed the prince's name but could do nothing as the ship was easily carried away from the boat.

Marco lay unmoving on the deck, knocked unconscious from the hit to his head, as the steady but growing flames came nearer and nearer to his oblivious form. Seeing this, Star began fight with vigor against the unforgiving tide in a desperate attempt to reach the boy before he was burned alive. But she never got a chance as the ship suddenly exploded, a bright and expansive burst of light as the remnants of whatever fireworks were left were found by the flames and simultaneously ignited, tearing the ship apart in a hot breath of beautiful destruction. Any previous feelings of curiosity or delight for Star were now replaced with empty horror as she watched what was left of the ship sink into the sea to join its other destroyed brethren.

Finally seeing up close and personal what caused the wreckage she had spent most of her life exploring made her sick and she knew after this her days of exploring the tragic sights were now over. But for right now she didn't care about that, as she dove underwater, swimming through the debris now floating to the bottom of the ocean, looking for any signs of Marco, her heart pounding in her ears as she continued her desperate search. She pushed past broken masts, damaged boxes of goods and other items, ignoring their content or worth as she panted wildly, looking for the first human she had ever met.

At last, she found him, his body caught in a rope as he was dragged down into the depths below. She quickly swam to him, nearly hugging him in her relief, but knew she had too little time for such things, he was in danger of drowning. So instead, she quickly untangled the rope from his frail body before wrapping her arms around his frame and lifted him back up to the surface.

The moment her head broke through the waves, she saw that the storm had begun to die down, leaving the ocean a dark blue as the sound of thunder rolled away from the pair. Star made sure Marco's head was above water but bit her lip not sure which way land would be. But to her relief, Janna suddenly appeared, shouting out to her, "This way!" and pointing off in what Star guessed was the direction of shore.

Janna began to swim toward that and Star began following along as best as she could, struggling with the human boy's heavy form weighing against her. She wasn't used to swimming with a partner, much less an unconscious one, making her movements klunky and awkward as she nearly dropped his head into the water several times, struggling to keep his head resting on her shoulder.

She felt her body fill with relief as Jackie appeared beside her, grabbing hold of one of the boy's arm and helping shift the weight so it was equally distributed between them. Even Pony and Seahorse pitched in, each lifting a leg above the ocean surf, balancing it on their heads as they helped carry the human to safety. Star smiled at each of her friends, touched by their kindness as she and the others much easier followed the dark-haired mermaid, who turned back every few seconds to make sure they were keeping up with her.

Johnny just nervously watched the whole thing a short distance away, his face full of worry as he kept pace with the young group of underwater rescuers and their determined mission to save the poor, unsuspecting human prince.

…

The sun began to rise on the horizon, bathing the world in light once more and casting a beautiful glow off of the water's surface. The gentle sound of the now peaceful waves hit Star's ears as she leaned over the dripping wet boy laying against the sand, his eyes still closed, as she admired his adorable face up close. She gently brushed the hair out of his eyes, as she hummed thoughtfully to herself, glad to see the boy was relatively unharmed despite the traumatic experience not too long ago. He looked so pale and fragile in that moment, nothing like the stories she had been told by other mermaids trying to scare her away from the concept of humans altogether and she felt a surge of pride as she realized she had been right all along about them. They weren't dangerous killers they were just people, capable of either good or evil. And in this moment, Star could easily see the good written all over the boy's face as she studied him closely.

"Star, is he dead?" Jackie asked, out of nowhere, interrupting her thoughts and she looked over to see her and the others watching her waist deep in the waves.

The girl looked back over to Marco, a sudden fear in her chest. How had she forgotten to check that? He was just in an explosion after all and had more than likely swallowed a lot of water. Her voice shook as she replied, "I-I'm not sure how to check."

"Step aside," Janna said, as she crawled over to the girl, pushing her out of the way, as she observed the boy. Star waited for her to check his heartbeat or something, but she instead gave him a little smack on the nose and Star let out a scream, grabbing onto the mergirl's arms to keep her from hurting him again. "Janna! Why did you do that?!" she demanded in anger, but a soft groan from below the two brought their attention back to Marco, who shifted a little in his sleep, his eyes scrunching up in the cutest way.

"He's alive," Janna confirmed, smugly. "You're welcome."

Star dropped her hold on the girl, letting out a huff as she retorted, "Was there no other way to check that?"

Janna just shrugged. "Thought that would be more effective," she said with no ounce of remorse in her voice and Star sighed before her eyes returned to the boy's face. She was now able to easily pick up on his breathing, as he began to relax once more and she smiled, her cheeks turning red.

"Well at least he's okay," she said softly, her hand unknowingly cupping his cheek and she felt him subconsciously move into her touch, letting out a smooth breath. The girl watched him with growing fascination and love as she felt his soft skin beneath her fingertips, making her shiver. She began to hum softly to herself some unknown song coming to her in that moment as the world faded away and all she knew or saw was the boy before her, the human prince who had captivated her from the moment she laid eyes on him and she once again wished this moment lasted forever.

The others didn't say a word or if they did she was unable to hear them as the sun peeked out from behind a cloud lighting up Marco's face as he gently opened his eyes, small and unfocused but still a beautiful shade of brown. He seemed to spot her in that moment, a hand reaching up to touch hers and she smiled at him again, as his eyes began to widen in realization. He opened his mouth to say something but there was a shout from farther down shore and Star whipped her head over to see the same man from before walking toward her, shouting out Marco's name every few seconds as he searched for him.

Star knew she had to go as she cast one last look at the boy, before forcing herself away and back to the water, where she ducked below a second later and now safely out of sight.

To Marco, it was as if she had suddenly disappeared, one second looking into her stunning blue orbs, the next just gone... leaving him blinking in the blinding sunlight. He sat up with a loud groan, his body feeling like it gone through a blender as he looked around for any signs of his rescuer. _Had it been Star?_ he wondered to himself. It had to have been, it was the only thing that made sense. Somehow the stowaway had swam him to shore all on her own. Although it seemed illogical, there was no mistaking that sweet, infectious smile and those bright, startling blue eyes. It had been Star, he was sure of it.

But where was she. He cupped a hand over his eyes to shield them from the burning sun as he stared off toward the horizon, the light reflecting off the waves nearly blinding him again. "Star?" he whispered under his breath, barely hearing a voice calling out his name.

He felt a hand grip his arm, pulling him to his feet, and he let out a groan nearly falling back onto the sandy beach. Hand to his head, trying to alleviate the headache that was beginning to surface, he turned to see Manfred looking quite relieved to see him. "Prince Marco, thank goodness your alright," the servant said, but Marco was barely paying any attention to him, still looking around for Star. "We've been searching all over for you, many of us feared that you had been lost to the storm."

"D-Did you see that girl?" Marco asked suddenly, surprising Manfred.

"Girl?" he repeated with concern, his eyebrow raising slightly and Marco knew he must have thought he was crazy.

"Yeah the one who saved me," the young prince continued. "She- She was just here a moment ago. Did you see where she went?"

"Your Majesty, there was no one with you," Manfred said slowly.

Marco shook his head, refusing to believe it. "No, no, I know she was here. I saw her."

"So a young girl just appeared in the middle of the ocean and carried you all the way back to shore, before vanishing into thin air again?"

Marco opened his mouth to retort, but quickly closed it knowing that he still couldn't tell him that he knew for a fact Star had been on the ship with him. So he instead shrugged and said softly, "Yeah, yeah, I must have just imagined her." But he couldn't keep his eyes from returning to the sea as if hoping she would somehow be there.

Manfred clicked his tongue disapprovingly, before saying, "You probably just swallowed too much sea water." Marco tried to ignore the man's belittling tone as he hoisted his arm over his shoulder, using his weight to help him walk as they headed back to the castle. "Now come along, Your Majesty, let's get you into some dry clothes."

Marco said nothing, allowing himself to be led, but keeping his gaze on the water, his thoughts still bouncing around his mind out of control as he tried to make sense of the blond stowaway and her heroic rescue.

…

Star peeked out from the rock she was hiding behind, watching the whole display with a growing sadness and longing unlike anything she had ever felt before. She kept her gaze trained on Marco's form as he was led away, his eyes still clearly searching for her and it took every ounce of self-control she had not to go to him.

Johnny, at this point was hyperventilating, going on and on about how stupid and dangerous all this was, about how they had to keep it a secret, about how no one could know what had gone on, especially the queen, while the others tried futility to calm him down. Star just tried not to roll her eyes. Duh, or course they weren't gonna tell her mom she would have a heart attack if she knew what Star had done. But she didn't regret it though, considering it the right thing to do, despite every merman or mermaid disagreeing with her on that point. Saving Marco had been the right thing, she just couldn't allow him to drown. And as for talking to him beforehand, well...

Star felt her cheeks flush furiously as her eyes remained trained on his figure, being practically dragged by the small man. The burning longing insider her only seemed to be growing more and more intense as she began to crave to see Marco again. She began to hum to herself again, finally recognizing the song as the one that had been playing when she and Marco met.

And at that very moment, like the crashing of a wave, Star came to a decision. She wouldn't let this be the last time she saw Marco. She would find a way to see him again, no matter how long or what she had to give up, she would see the human world in all its glory, with Marco by her side. She didn't know when or how but still she knew she would succeed. She had to. And so from the deepest depths of her soul, she promised both herself and her first human friend she would find a way to become a part of his world, no matter what.

 **Hehe, bit of a cheesy ending there, not gonna lie. I wanted to find a way to do these scenes without having them randomly break out into song, since I don't think that would fit the feel of Star vs and this was the best way I could. And honestly I just couldn't stop myself from throwing in some cheese for my favorite couple of all time! :)**

 **So I hoped you all enjoyed and like I said before it was a really fun one for me and I loved how it turned out. I also realized when editing this chapter that Johnny's personality is kinda like a cross between Sebastian and Flounder in this version, so ha that's a weird thing to think about. And for any of you who probably already picked up on who is the villain for this story, I tried to make it subtle but I had to establish her into the story without it feeling like it was coming out of nowhere. And no Eclipsa isn't going to be villain, she is replacing Ursula but I won't make her evil.**

 **Okay, now back to Tangled! I don't know when part 2 for this one will be out, I just really wanted to see something for this one and I know you all did too, so sorry for that. I'm thinking after I finish Tangled I might do a voting system like I did for the last two, where I ask you which one I should make next. But we'll see what happens. Until then, please feel free to send me ideas for which character can replace who, I can't promise I will use them but I love hearing your thoughts and who knows, I don't have every single character planned out just yet! ;D This one is just a fun little side project for me and so I want you all to have some fun with it too.**

 **Stay awesome you guys and I will see you in the next one!**

 **WaterDragonMaverick- Oh yeah I don't know why it did that. It didn't look that way when I went to post it lol. But I got it fixed now, so it should be a little easier for you. Yep, I got to include that in there, it is too funny not to use! Though I'm trying how to figure out how to incorporate singing into it since it is one of the few times breaking out into song makes sense for the situation, haha! Oh yeah Buff Frog is definitely replacing the hook hand guy, it fits too perfectly for him!**

 **Her family would be an excellent replacement! Globgore and Meteora being used as her eyes and ears would just make sense and honestly I like the idea of seeing the happily family together! They aren't in this one since they didn't really fit anywhere for me but they will definitely be in part 2 whenever that one comes out. Jan or Buff Frog were good choices but Janna already has a role and Buff Frog just doesn't feel right to me. I think Eclipsa's fam is the best way to go! Thanks for the help! I hope you enjoy this one since you've been wanting it for so long! Hope it lived up to your expectations!**

 **Bella2be- Well tell your brothers I said that I will continue to write her and see her as one until the end of time and nothing can stop me! Mwhahahaa! Besides we already know the truth. ;) *wink* But just out of curiosity how do they feel about the other disney princess of Star... Princess Marco.**

 **Acosta perez jose ramiro- Thanks! It is a lot of fun and they fit so easily in there! Hehe, I'll try!**

 **Sugar- Oh yeah, I have seen some of the manga, one of my friends showed it to me. That is a good example though, magic requires taking something in order to get something, so it's not that she is doing it for some sinister purpose but rather is merely just trying to fulfill their wishes though the only means she knows how.**

 **Ha, yeah thank you. I always picture little Jan as such a pyromaniac, haha! XD And O-O….yes, that is perfect. I love it! Charlotte in the movie never got a love interest and just had to resign to hoping to find someone in the future. Maybe he can be one of the other men at the party trying to ask her to dance but she is so hung up on the prince she doesn't notice him, but by the end, after giving up on the prince, falls for him instead. Welp that settles it, that chapter will now have to be officially titled** _ **Quasar is Tiana AU**_ **. Hahaha! XD Yeah you are right and that would be fun, maybe an april fool's present or something. Yeah I didn't want to do that, Jackie is too cool a character to subject her to that stupid trope. My favorite role for her is the awesome and supportive friend and so that's where she ended up at.**

 **I'm glad you like it! They all fit her pretty well to some degree, the closest are Rapunzel and Anna but Ariel's and Star's curiosity go hand in hand, Cinderella's determination, and so and so forth. Tiana is just so hard because she is all about being hard working and that just doesn't really represent cannon Star all that much. I will probably have to tweak her role quite a bit to get it to make sense but I'll figure it out.**

 **How many? Well hopefully all the main ones so let's see that's a total of... 13 if I exclude Elsa, which is a lot honestly. *cough, cough* (And the honorary princesses Kida from Atlantis and Vanelope from Wreck It Ralph.) *cough, cough* Honestly, I don't have a plan for Heckapoo right now. I actually really like her character too but I haven't thought of a good role so far. Any ideas. Oh yeah, Marco is too much of a dork not to be Milo. And I have to include that movie in my line up because it is probably my favorite Disney movie of all time!**

 **I'mafanofFANFICTIONS- Haha, good to hear that! I kinda just have fun with this one and I think it shows in my writing. At least I hope it does, haha! Yeah, there will probably be a lot honestly, though some will be shorter than others, for instance I only have two parts planned for Aurora and the second part is really short so it just varies by the story.**

 **Glad I'm not the only one who sees this! These three girls are all the same character with just minor differences I swear! Poppy wouldn't be a bad replacement! Not in here obviously but I think Star could easily take her place and yeah I think Marco can be a little grump sometimes so that would be cool to explore. Or maybe he would be closed off but still the overly cautious boy we all know and love. With Starco anything is possible!**


	7. The Snuggly Duckling (Rapunzel part 3)

The Snuggly Duckling (Star is Rapunzel AU part 3)

 **Hey guys I'm back! So I know it's been about three months but I got some bad writer's block and had to take a break while I waited for some inspiration to hit. But It's here now! And I really think your going to enjoy it! It's pretty long too so hopefully that makes up for the wait. Oh also thank you all for the favorites, follows and review and for sticking with me during my long absences, I'm hoping to start updating this story more regularly but we'll see how it goes.**

 **Oh also don't mind some minor edits I'm doing to the old chapters, I'm just adding part 2 to the Star White and Tangled ones to make it more coherent.**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters belong to Daron Nefcy and Disney. Tangled belongs to Disney. All rights go to them.**

Marco was beginning to regret agreeing to Star's deal. After spending close to three hours in the forest trying to keep Star from accidentally injuring himself on the many, many things that caught her eye, Marco was sore and tired and just done with everything for the day. He had been stung by at least three bees, had nearly drowned in a nearby stream after Star slipped and fell in leaving him to rescue her, and been covered in hundreds of tiny needles when he had fallen into a thorn bush trying to help Star get her long, flowing hair out of the tree it got tangled in. So to say Marco was having a bad day would be an understatement, he was having one of the worst days of his life.

Star, however, seemed to be having the best day ever as she recklessly threw herself at whatever strange and unknown thing caught her eye. All with a bright smile on her face which made Marco's terrible day a little bit more bearable. Then again, every so often she would stop in the middle of her dangerous frolicking to panic over her mom finding out she was gone, worrying what she would say and how she would react to her daughter leaving without permission. Marco didn't have the whole story but he was beginning to put the pieces together. It seemed Star had an overbearing and controlling mother who seemed to think the outside world was too dangerous for the blond, hence why she had never left. Not only that but apparently Star had snuck out without permission in order to go see the floating lights, which had her battling over her wants and her guilt.

To be honest, it really upset him to see her that way. She was too sweet and innocent to be... wait, what was he thinking?! He had known her for less than a day, the beginning of which he had been her captive. So why would her emotions being effecting him in this way? Why did he care at all? And why did he continually blush every time he was near her for that matter? Ugh, maybe Star wasn't the only one who was at war with herself.

And so it was probably because of this, as he watched her bawl her eyes out of nowhere for (what was this now?) the fifth time in an hour, he stood there awkwardly, trying to decide what he should do. The girl sniffed trying to wipe the tears out of her eyes and looking so lost and guilty that the boy could take no more, walking over to her, determined to cheer her up.

He reached out a hand to put on her shoulder but quickly retracted it, thinking better of it. "Um, hey," he said nervously and Star turned to look at him in surprise and the young thief felt his throat close up with her attention now on him. He coughed into his hand, rubbing the back of his neck with the other. "Are you... doing okay?" He finally managed to get out and nearly slapped himself for saying something so stupid. Of course she wasn't, she was crying!

But the blond didn't seem to take offense as she simply muttered, "Yeah, I guess." Her face somehow fell even more and he once again pushed himself to say something to help her. "Well I don't know the whole story but if you want me to take you back I can," he said, giving a wide smile.

But the girl's eyes only grew wide and she suddenly grabbed him by the front of his jacket, making him squeak in surprise and blush bright red. "No way!" she shouted in concern. "I-I can't go home, not till I see the floating lights!"

"Okay, okay," Marco said quickly, raising his hands in an innocent gesture. "We'll go see the floating lights!"

Star breathed a sigh of relief, finally releasing him from her grip. Marco quickly straightened out his clothes as he added scoldingly, "But if we're gonna keep traveling together, then you need to be more careful. I know this is your first time out but that doesn't mean you can just keep running head first into danger."

Marco looked up to see he was now alone, the girl already breaking his rule before she even heard it, her long hair being dragged off in the direction she had gone. "Like that," Marco groaned tiredly, running a hand slowly down his face. He turned to see Janna on his shoulder and he asked, "Is she always like this?"

Janna nodded knowingly.

Suddenly they heard her call to them from a distance, "Come on, guys! I think I just found us a place to eat."

Both Marco and Janna released a simultaneous sigh, before the boy muttered, "Come on, we better make sure she doesn't hurt herself." He then trudged after his blond companion with the small bat perched on his shoulder, following the path of hair that dragged behind wherever Star went.

…

Eclipsa hummed a little tune as she walked, enjoying the sunlight and the cool breeze that ruffled through the trees, trying not to think about her Flower that she had left back in the tower, alone. When she had first brought Star home to live with her, she had never left her side, only going out for supplies when absolutely necessary. She was terrified that if she left Star alone that she would be stolen away, despite the precautions she had taken to keep her safe and hidden from any prying eyes. But then her original flower had been the same way, but a grave oversight had caused her to nearly lose her life source. The moment it was taken, Eclipsa had been in a panic and had been desperate to get it back, so desperate that she was willing to take the young princess that inherited it's powers.

For a while, the fear of losing her source of eternal youth had caused her to be overprotective not allowing her new daughter outside for any reason, despite Star's beggings. Now though, she would be lying if she said she was only protecting Star because of her powers. Over the years her selfish intentions to horde the girl's power for herself had turned into a familiar warmth that she couldn't quite displace. She cared about Star to a degree but lately she had been growing frustrated with her constant longing toward the outside world. Did she really not appreciate what she had done for her? Was living in a tower, safe from danger and protected from anyone who might do her harm, such a bad thing?

It frightened Eclipsa more than a little to know that Star seemed to know about some connection she had to her past, at least on some kind of subconscious level. What if she discovered the truth of what she had done? The woman shook her head, clearing herself of such nonsense thoughts. That was impossible. Still, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was wrong with her daughter. Something about the way she acted was very suspicious to Eclipsa but she couldn't quite figure out what or why.

Suddenly there was a shuffling from the bushes up ahead and she instantly went on high alert as she slowly approached it, staring at the area with fervent attention. She wasn't scared by whatever could be lurking in the woods, since they were completely free of any sort of wild beast or dangerous animal, but rather she was concerned that it could possibly be an outsider in which case she needed to keep them as far away from Star as possible... by whatever means necessary. She reached for the small dagger she always kept tucked out of sight in her belt, just in case. She hadn't gotten very far on her journey so far, she was still in close enough distance to the tower that there was a slim possibility they could find it and she wasn't taking that chance.

She reached out a hand and as silently and swiftly as she could, parted the bush to see what was lurking behind them. But she only stared at shock at the sight of a tall sleek horse, looking at its reflection in a small pond of water, taking bizarre poses as it seemed quite impressed with itself and one of her eyebrows shot up. Definitely not what she was expecting but then again, it could have been worse.

That was when she noticed that the horse was wearing a saddle and decked out in the familiar gold pattern that the nearby kingdom of Corona was so fond of, the sun symbol showcased several times by the horse's self-admiring display and Eclipsa's eyes widened. This wasn't just a stray, it was a palace horse... one that was missing its rider. _Star._

Eclispsa was racing back to the tower in a flash, already breathing heavily as she tried not to think of every terrible scenario as she fought her way through the suddenly unforgiving vegetation and back to her only source of life and youth. What if she was taken? What if she was dead? If something had happened to her, what would Eclipsa do? She would be dead in probably a day or two and that wasn't an option. She had given up too much to lose her immortality now.

Finally, _finally_ , she made it back to the familiar cave that hid her daughter from the rest of the world, only now its true level of safety was unknown, as it had quite possibly failed to do its job. She reached the base of the tower, trying to hide how frantic and out of breath she was as she called up in the sweetest tone she could, "Star, let down your hair!"

There was a pause that seemed to last the ancient woman a lifetime, but there was no response from above. "Star! Let down your hair, please!" she tried again, this time her fear showing through some.

Still no answer. "Sweetie? Sweetie can you hear me?!" she practically screamed up to the tower and when she received no response again, she could wait no longer. She quickly ran to the side of the tower and began tearing brick and stone aside as the loose construction she had built there long ago was pulled free, revealing the hidden entrance up the tower. She had used this often when Star was a child but once she had gotten old enough to preform the task of hauling her mom up the side, Eclipsa had opted for that, hiding the secret entrance in case of an emergency. Like right now.

The woman climbed up to the top, throwing the trapdoor open as she looked around the dark tower with terror. She did a quick search, screaming Star's name as she checked over every inch of the area: throwing curtains aside so roughly they almost fell off their pole, flipping the sheets off of both her and Star's bed, actually breaking the door on the closet as she slammed it open with such a strong force the door snapped off and fell to the floor. Still nothing.

Star was gone.

Eclipsa's breathing had grown sporadic, shifting between being short and shallow to long and strenuous as she clutched the sides of her head in pure fear and dread, worse than when her original flower had been taken. Because now, she had no idea where Star was. Star was gone. _She was going to die._ She had no clues, nothing to go off of, no way of even knowing where Star could possibly be. Had Star run away? Had she been taken? Was she in danger and now being used by someone else who knew of what power she held? No, that couldn't be, she had taken precautions, but... she had done the same with the tower and look what that had gotten her.

The woman collapsed to her knees, too distraught and overcome by grief to stand, tears falling freely from her eyes. Star was gone, she was really truly gone. She had failed, failed to protect what mattered to her the most. She should have never left her, she shouldn't have taken her eyes off of Star for a minute, but she had and now... now she had lost her source of life and it was all over for her. Her head slowly sank toward the ground, until a bright light was cast right in her eye and she cried out in pain and surprise. She looked over at the source, seeing a gleam of something underneath one of the floorboards of the stairs. She slowly rose to her feet and walked over to it, her eyes never leaving the glittering object hidden underneath the worn wood. She bent down and pried the board loose, which came off rather easily, too easily in fact, and she looked inside to see what was some sort of make-shift hiding place. And there sat in the center of it was a satchel, a glittering object half-way hidden within.

She lifted up the bag, reaching a hand in to pull out whatever was inside, but the moment she took in the sight of the crown she gasped and dropped the object in shock, the regal headpiece hitting the ground with an echoing clang. Eclipsa just stared down at the crown she had thought and hoped she would never see again, a million worries and questions flowing around her head as she tried to make sense of it all. But thinking quickly she began searching the satchel more thoroughly, looking anywhere and everywhere for some kind of clue of who had done this to her, of who had brought old memories back into her home and taken away her precious Flower.

She was close to giving up when she spotted a small marking underneath the bag, etched into the fabric and she brought it closer to her face, reading it carefully, "Property of Marco Diaz". The woman's eyes narrowed as she recognized the name of the wanted thief that had been the source of many discussions around the kingdom. And now he had something to do with her daughter's disappearance.

She quickly grabbed the knife off her belt, her hand clenching it so tightly, her knuckles went white, as she began devising a plan to find and get her Flower back. First things first, she needed more information on this Diaz boy and she would start at the most likely place to get the answers she needed...

…

Star was squealing as she stood before the large wooden establishment in the very heart of the woods. She could smell a delicious aroma wafting through the air and decided that this place was a restaurant of some kind. Pleasant music could be heard within, a lively banter that was sure to get even the most tone-deaf person tapping their foot in rhythm. Everything about the place (from the outside at least) seemed warm and inviting and Star was tempted to run in there without Marco, but she figured waiting for him would probably be the right thing to do. Still if he didn't get there soon her patience just might beat out her common courtesy.

But luckily that wasn't the case, as the sound of rattling bushes drew her attention to behind her, where her guide emerged covered head to toe in leaves from the girl's 'brilliant' shortcut. "Oh good, you made it!" she said, clapping her hands together excitedly.

Marco just stared at the building skeptically, an eyebrow slowly raising as he asked, "Star, what is this place?"

"Ohh just found a place for us to eat... all on my own," she said, trying to look and act modest but was clearly boasting her accomplishment which made Marco roll his eyes.

"Righhhtt, well I'm not so sure about this place, Star," the young thief admitted, continuing to eye the place suspiciously.

"What why?" Star asked defensively.

"Well first of all, it was built suspiciously in the middle of nowhere," Marco pointed out.

"So was my tower," the blond girl argued.

"Yeah, I know," Marco replied, hands to his hips. "Which is exactly why I don't trust it."

"Aw, come on, Marco," Star pressed, elbowing the boy in the side. "Don't worry so much."

"Hey, worrying is what keeps me alive."

"Yeah, but look at this place, it looks super safe," the girl continued, sweeping an arm out to showcase the establishment, stopping on a sign outside the restaurant. "I mean, it's called 'The Snuggly Duckling', how bad can it honestly be?"

"Other than the fact that somebody in there might recognize my face and turn me in," Marco dead-panned. But his voice regained some life to it as he insisted, "Look Star, I have a bad feeling about his place, I don't think going in is a good idea."

"Well let's put it to a vote," Star said authoritatively.

"Vote? But there's only two of us."

"Nuh uh, don't forget about Janna," the blond said, pointing to the bat still perched on Marco's shoulder who was now him an angry glare for forgetting about her. "Oh right, Janna, don't want to forget about her," Marco said nervously, his eyes begging her to agree with him.

The blond cleared her throat before saying, "All in favor of not going inside this awesome and totally safe place I found and instead going hungry for the rest of the day, raise your hand."

Nobody made any move Marco just grumbling, "Oh come on, this is totally ridiculous."

"I said raise your hand!" the girl shouted at the top of her lungs, stunning the boy and causing his hand to shoot up.

"There, that's better," Star said, all smiles once more. "Now all in favor of ignoring Marco and going inside this totally cool looking place, raise your hand."

Her and Janna raised their hands and Marco sighed, putting a hand to his face, before trying one last desperate attempt to change their minds, "Or maybe we could just not eat anything right now, I mean, come on how hungry are we really?" He chuckled nervously, before a loud rumbling from his belly sounded, lighting his cheeks up red and causing Star and Janna to stare, the bat with a smirk on her fluffy face.

"See even your belly agrees with me," Star said, turning on her heels and starting up the short path to the door, almost skipping her way there. Janna abandoned his shoulder to follow after her and Marco shouted desperately, "Star!" but Star was ignoring him now as she continued on unopposed. The boy groaned still having a bad feeling in his gut but could do nothing about it now. He looked down to his stomach and growled in frustration, "Traitor." His gaze returned to the girl, now halfway there at this point.

His protective side started to take hold, making him want to rush after her but he was hesitant still wanting to try and talk her out of it if he could. But then the tasty smells in the air reached his nose, making his mouth water and setting his empty belly off once more. He hadn't eaten anything all day and the effect of his hunger was starting to get the better of him. So he swallowed down the uncomfortable feeling and raced after the girl and her pet, catching up to them quickly and now begrudgingly by her side once more, pulling up his hood to try and hide his face as best he could.

The blond grinned, glad to see her friend had changed his mind and decided to join her. Wait, was he her friend yet? They hadn't known each other for very long but she already felt comfortable around him and could easily refer to him as a friend, even if she wasn't sure how he felt on the subject. She was definitely beginning to feel that way, though.

Regardless, it still felt nice knowing he was there and would be a part of whatever memories she made inside, everything feeling so much better with him around, and Star smiled to let him know just that. But the young man was still too busy looking around nervously.

"Marco relax, nobody is going to recognize you," Star told him.

"Yeah well, if I get arrested it's on you." Marco groaned unhappily.

"Look Marco, I may not have been outside before, but I got instincts too," the long-haired girl stated, pointing to herself. Marco opening the door for her to step inside. "And mine are saying that we have nothing to worry aboooo-"

Star's voice slowly drifted off as she took in the interior of the restaurant. While on the outside the place had looked warm, cozy and inviting, the inside was dark, scary and uncomfortable. Lamps hung from posts with jagged, rusted metal protruding out of it, looking like an instant health hazard, and the gentle swinging of the lights only somehow cast more shadows into the room if that was possible. Weapons of all shapes and sizes covered almost every surface sticking out of walls, floors, tables, counters, everything and where there weren't weapons, the thousands upon thousands of scrapes and holes on every wooden surface were signs that they had at one point. Near the corner what looked to be the remains of a smashed table, thrown to the side along with several wooden barrels, no doubt containing questionable contraband.

And that was just the decorations, the people looked just as terrifying as the layout of the place, every resident of the bar some sort of large Monster, all looking muscled and toned and ready to rip the nearest person to shreds. Some had scars on their bodies or were carrying a weapon of some kind and the look in their eye, as they turned to see the two unknowing teens entering, was one that could make your skin crawl. There was murder behind every pair of eyes she saw and Star felt her body nearly freeze up right there in fear. These were ruffians and thugs if she ever saw any and the girl silently regretted not heeding her mother's or Marco's words more closely and instead rushing head first into this situation.

She held her frying pan out as a threat to ward anyone off who even thought about coming near her and quickly gathered up her hair into her free arm in fear of it getting it cut. She also felt Janna duck securely into her hair to hide. "I told you this was a bad idea," she heard a very frightened Marco whisper into her ear.

"Okay fine maybe you were right," she whispered back not letting her eyes cease their constant roam around the room for even a second. "This was a bad idea."

"Don't worry, I'll handle it," Marco reassured her quietly, before raising his voice as he addressed the room, "Uh sorry to interrupt you all, me and my friend seemed to have wandered into here by mistake, so we'll just be leaving you now." He put an arm on Star's shoulder and began to lead her back the short few steps they had come. But then he heard the door slam shut behind them and he and Star both swerved on their feet to see a young man, looking close to their age with pink hair and horns, pale purplish skin and a feisty look in his three eyes blocking off their path to freedom. "Not so fast," the boy said in a hard tone. He took a step forward, now face to face with a sweating Marco, their faces only inches apart as his red eyes narrowed. "You look... familiar."

"W-What, no, no I don't," the boy in red stuttered awkwardly.

"No, I've definitely seen you somewhere before," the young ruffian continued, tapping a finger to his chin in thought.

"Well, I have no idea where that would be," Marco said, trying to put an innocent smile on his face, but it came out as more of a grimace.

"Yeah he says he doesn't know so leave him alone," Star quickly jumped in to his defense.

"You better tell your girlfriend not to talk to me like that," the pink-haired teen said.

"Oh no, she's not my girlfriend," Marco quickly said, a little too quickly and he felt his cheeks turn pink.

Suddenly, he felt a large hand grab the back of his hood and rip it down, making him squeak in surprise and fumbled to pull it back up again. He mentally chastised himself for not paying closer attention to what was happening behind him and instead getting distracted by the other boy's accusation toward him. Marco failed to regain his hood, whoever had grabbed it, refusing to release his hold and instead staring down at him intensely, making his skin burn.

"Hey yeah, I think your right Tom, I've seen him before too," the lobster like monster said, his voice high-pitched and his eyes beady and unfocused. His sharp claw was what held his hood in its vice-like grip and Marco knew the struggle for freedom was futile at this point.

"Hey stop, leave him alone!" Star screamed, seeing her friend in peril and quickly rushing to his rescue, slamming her frying pan into the Monster's claws without thinking. "Ouch!" the lobster screamed, letting go of the boy and rubbing his now aching claw with a hurt look. "What'd you do that for?"

Star had grabbed Marco's arm and yanked him to her side in a second and she looked over at the Monster with an angry glare. "Well you were the one who just grabbed Marco out of nowhere, not cool!" Star shouted, pointing her frying pan at the Monster accusingly.

Marco just groaned and face-palmed. "Starrrr," he muttered under his breath.

"What?" the girl asked, before her eyes widened in realization at her slip up. "Ohhhh."

"Marco," Tom said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "As in Diaz."

"Uhhh, no," the boy tried weakly.

"Oh yeah, I've seen his wanted posters all over the place, he's worth a lot of cash," one of the other Monsters, this one a large bear creature with a horn on the top of its head, said.

"Is that true?" Star asked her companion and Marco whispered over his shoulder, "Maybe just a... little bit."

"Meat Fork," Tom said. "Go get the knights and bring 'em here." The warthog Monster saluted before obeying, exiting the building quickly.

"Oh no, that's not necessary," Marco assured them, him and Star now standing back to back with each other as they were surrounded by the greedy Monsters. The two grimaced and Star held her pan out in warning, while Marco just did his best to try and sway the Monster's decision in the slightest. "I'm sure if we all just keep calm and talk about this we can form some sort of compromise."

Tom scoffed. "The only compromise we care about is the one where you let us turn you in and collect the reward."

"Oh great," Marco sighed in defeat.

Star looked around at the Monster's fearfully before pleading, "Come on guys, please don't do this. All I want is to go see the floating lights and I need Marco to take me there because I've never been outside before and I've been dreaming of seeing them my whole life! Can't you guys at least try and understand?!" Star was practically screaming at this point and everyone, Marco included, could only stare dumbfounded at the blond's outburst.

"Uhh, yeah I guess so, but we still need the money," Tom said, finally breaking the silence.

The others all nodded and grumbled their agreement before advancing on the two teens once more. Star and Marco gasped, the boy raising his arms, ready for a fight and the girl raising her weapon over her head, preparing to strike. "Okay, fine then, bring it on!" the girl screamed in a blood-thristy tone. "I'll fight you guys off if it means seeing the floating lights!"

"Wait stop!" a voice yelled from the crowd and everyone froze, all turning to see a muscular frog Monster, staring at the two teens in concern.

"Buff Frog what is it?" Tom asked.

"These two teens just like us," he said, looking between his fellow criminals and saying, "They have dream, same as we do."

Tom just rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Buff Frog sit back down, your just embarrassing yourself," the boy said sarcastically. He looked over to the still frightened Marco saying, "Sorry about this, ever since he had kids he's been all sentimental and junk."

"Aww that's so sweet," Star cooed, to which Marco immediately shushed her, not wanting to draw more attention on themselves than they already had.

"I will not sit down," the frog argued, keeping a strong and proud stance as he continued. "Not when I see something very wrong happening."

"We're murderers Buff Frog, don't you think it's a little late for that?" Tom pointed out in exasperation.

"Yeah, are we seriously gonna listen to this guy?" a new voice spoke up, his voice high-pitched as a small bird Monster emerged from the crowd, violently pushing his way through before hopping onto a nearby barstool so he came up to about half the height of the amphibian. "I mean, why shouldn't we just take what is rightfully ours?"

"Because Ludo," Buff Frog argued. "I have dream once and know for fact you all had one as well."

The other Monsters shared a look with one another before nodding and grumbling their agreement. Buff Frog turned to Tom, who was still standing stonily and unmoved by the Monster's speech. "And we all know how badly you wish to be world famous singer like favorite boy band."

Tom flushed, clenching his teeth in anger. "You have no proof of that." He then turned to the small kappa Monster, who was pouting from his position on the barstool. "And you, Ludo, wish to be big and muscular so that you get lots of ladies."

"That is not true!" Ludo screamed in outrage. "I also want people to look up to me!"

Buff Frog then preceded to pull out a large ax out of nowhere and flung it toward a corner, where the trapped musician Ruberiot sat on a small stool, his ankle chained to keep him trapped there. The ax hit just above his head, cutting the feather on his hat in half and he shakily began to play a janky tune on the accordion in his hands.

"What's going on?" Star asked her guide in confusion.

"I... think he's about to sing," Marco explained, equally as stunned as his friend.

Tom next to them sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Here we go again," he mumbled with a roll of all three of his eyes.

" _I malicious mean and scary_ ," Buff Frog began, storming closer to Star and Marco who took an immediate step back, fear written all over their faces. " _Sneer could curdle dairy. Violence wise my hands not cleanist._ " He looked down to the two's feet who followed his gaze and spotted the white outline of what was once a body and they jumped back in alarm, letting out a small gasp of surprise.

" _But despite things I took and intimidating look..._ " The frog hopped up onto a stage, where a spotlight suddenly shined on him out of nowhere. " _Always yearned to be concert pianist._ "

"What?" both teens said incredulously, while next to them Tom just face-palmed. "Yep, this is happening," he grumbled to himself.

" _Can't you see me on stage performing Mozart?_ " Buff Frog continued, now playing from a large piano, his webbed fingers moving surprisingly delicately against the keys, the lively upbeat tune actually pretty catchy. " _Tickling ivies till they gleam!_ "

"What does that even mean?" Star asked her friend with a raised eyebrow, who shrugged.

"No clue," he replied.

" _Yes rather be called deadly for killer showtune medley,_ " Buff Frog sang, his hand sweeping across piano, hitting every note on the way, going so fast in fact that it sent some of them flying out toward the crowd, Star holding her pan up to block a few, while one nailed Ludo in the eye, making him wail in pain. " _For way down deep inside got a dream!_ "

Tom just scoffed. "Oh please, like anybody is buying this."

" _He's got a dream! He's got a dream!_ " several of the Monster in the back sang, bouncing up and down to the rhythm much to Tom's shock, who hid his face in his hands to hide his embarrassment for his cohorts.

" _See ain't as cruel and viscous as I seem,_ " the frog continued, smiling wildly now, as he winked over to the two teens, who both chuckled at the unexpected action. " _While I do like breaking femurs, count me with dreamers, cause way down deep inside I got a dream!_ "

The amphibian continued to play his tune, the sweet song drifting easily through the crowd of Monsters who all were now getting into the song, humming along with the tune.

"Well this is certainty... strange," Marco said, looking genuinely unsure how to feel about the sudden song number that had just broken out.

"Well at least they aren't killing us," Star pointed out. "Maybe we should just relax and try and enjoy it."

"Yeah, I guess so," Marco agreed, not really seeing any other way around it. But suddenly the two were grabbed from behind by a grinning Lobster Claws, making both of them let out startled shouts. "Ooh, ooh, my turn!" the hard-headed Monster shouted, dragging the two over to the stage against their will, ignoring their protests.

" _I've got scars and lumps and bruises,_ " Lobster Claws began his verse, keeping his tone light and cheerful. " _Plus something here that oozes_ ," he added, holding up his arm right in the red thief's face, making Marco gag. " _And let's not even mention my complexion!_ "

"Boo get off the stage!" Bearicorn yelled from the crowd, growing tired of the song, but Lobster Claws ignored him and continued to sing anyways.

" _But despite my voices that's raw,_ " he sang off key, making several Monsters cover their ears. " _My beady eyesight and my claws..._ " he held up his namesake for both Star and Marco to observe closely.

" _I really want to make a love connection!_ " Lobster Claws declared, hugging the two close to him with a love-sick puppy dog face.

"Awww," Star said with bright, shining eyes.

" _Can't you see me with a special little lady,_ " the Monster continued to drone, looking lost in his fantasies as he sat in a small tub beside a very annoyed looking Ludo, who sat with his arms crossed and a deep hateful glare on his face. " _Rowing in a rowboat down the stream,_ " he continued, using a table leg as a make-shift paddle as he used it to push him across the room, Tom watching him pass by with narrowed eyes, still unable to believe any of this was happening.

Next thing anyone knew, Lobster Claws had the still unwilling Ludo attached to a rope around his middle, a pair of lopsided wings on his back. The small kappa's position hadn't changed at all, his arms still crossed across his chest as he was hoisted into the air by the still singing crustacean. " _Though I'm one disgusting blighter, I'm a lover not a fighter,_ " Lobster Claws sang proudly.

"Untie me or your dead," Ludo hissed, finally looking over at the Monster with a death glare.

But the lobster was too lost in his own thoughts as he simply sighed, hugging his end of the rope tight. " _Cause way down deep inside I've got a dream!_ " He then gave Ludo a small push sending him circling around the room, his arms never leaving their crossed position.

Star and Marco watched wide-eyed as Ludo passed by them, before sharing startled looks with each other as the other Monsters in the room repeated the same verse from before, Lobster Claws cutting in every so often with his own verse. " _He's got a dream._ "

" _I've got a dream._ "

" _He's got a dream_."

" _And I know one day romance will reign supreme._ "

Out of nowhere, Lobster Claws appeared behind the two and they let out audible screams of fright. " _Though my face leaves people screaming._ "

"Well yeah, when you sneak up on people it does," Star mumbled, still trying to will her racing heart down.

Lobster Claws gave them an apologetic grin, before continuing on with his part in the song, " _There's a child behind it dreaming,_ " his eyes seemed to shimmer as he gazed off into the distance. He pulled the two into another unwanted hug, nearly crushing them with his unknown strength. " _Like everybody else, I've got a dream._ "

The room broke into a euphoria of other Monsters confessing their dreams, showing off their talents to the two young intruders. Star and Marco didn't mind, giving them their full attention, though mostly because they were just glad they weren't being murdered and would continue on with the distraction for as long as they could. Tom stayed out of the way of this, not caring in the slightest to join them. But when he was suddenly surrounded by the rest of the Monsters, as well as Star and Marco, the boy in red asked, "So what's your dream?"

"Mine?" Tom asked, not quite sure he had heard him right. Marco nodded though and Tom's eyes narrowed to near slits as he hissed out between clenched teeth, "I. Don't. Sing."

"But-" Buff Frog started to argue, only to be interrupted by Tom.

"I don't sing!" Tom screamed at them from the top of his lungs and everyone quickly backed away from him with noticeable cringes.

But once they had Lobster Claws muttered under his breath, "Spoil sport."

"So now what?" Marco asked and his eyes widened as all eyes hovered on him. "Wha- me!" he squeaked nervously.

"Go on Marco, you'll be great!" Star reassured him, giving him a push forward and the boy was forced to stagger into the spotlight to avoid tripping on his own feet. Once he was facing the crowd again, his face turning an unhealthy shade of red, he opened his mouth and sang awkwardly, " _I have dreams like you, no really._ " He swallowed as his voice cracked on the last line, but an encouraging thumbs up from Star on the sidelines gave Marco a burst of bravery as he continued more confidently. " _Just much less, touchy feely. It mostly happens somewhere warm and sunny._ "

Star felt her cheeks flush at the clear, smooth tone that was Marco's singing voice. She hadn't expected it to sound so good and her hammering heart was proof that she was enjoying getting to hear it. The boy also seemed to be enjoying himself as he smiled, his eyes closing and his voice rising to more confident levels with each word. " _On an island that I own. Tanned, rested and alone. Surrounded by enormous piles of money!_ "

The others cheered, surprising Marco as he was lifted off the ground by dozens of claws and paws, hefting him into the air by his limbs, where he froze and went stiff, not wanting this kind of attention from them. But before he could complain, he was tossed screaming into the air, where his girlish squeals went ignored once Star stood up on one of the tables and the Monsters turned their attention onto her, Marco slamming into the ground a second later with a loud grunt of pain.

" _I've got a dream!_ " She sang, raising a hand into the air, a bright infectious smile on her face. Marco sat up, rubbing his head as he caught sight of the girl through the crowd of people, his eyes instantly going wide. " _I've got a dream!_ " Marco's and every Monster's mouth dropped open at the sweet, silky singing voice the girl had. Everyone was instantly entranced on her every word and movement, but none moreso than Marco, who found brain cells frying on every note as his heart rate spiked to abnormal and probably unhealthy levels.

" _I just want to see the floating lanterns gleam_ ," she continued with a far-off look as she spoke of her dream, her eyes twinkling like her namesake, but her voice remained proud and strong, never missing a note, as she flawlessly carried the playful tune. A massive cheer followed this declaration and the smile on her face was so pure and innocent that it could have melted even the darkest of hearts with but a glance. And to all onlookers she seemed like she belonged on stage, in the limelight, like it was where she was always meant to be.

" _And with every passing hour I'm so glad I left my tower. Like all you lovely folks I've got a dream._ " Marco just watched her solo in a state of awe, noticing the way the spotlight reflected off of her long hair, creating an almost halo around her pretty head as she smiled the sweetest smile he had ever seen in his life. She was so happy and at that moment he would have done anything to keep that look on her face always.

" _She's got a dream!_ " The crowd sang, before pointing back and forth at each other, as they took over the singing portion for a moment. " _He's got a dream! They've got a dream! We've got a dream!_ "

Meanwhile, Marco, who had moved to a fairly secluded corner of the restaurant away from the riled up crowd. He looked over to see Janna and a rat doing some sort of exchange, the bat handing the rodent a piece of gold and receiving a tiny bowl of some sort of food within. The two animals quickly froze and swerved to look over at the boy with narrowed eyes. Marco raised an eyebrow at the odd sight, before saying with a fair amount of concern, "I don't even want to know."

The small bat just shrugged and and quickly began eating the food in front of her and Marco was about to comment to the creature about the importance of knowing what your food was before ingesting it, when he was suddenly grabbed by the front of his shirt and pulled forward, now standing in the middle of the crowd. He looked around in confusion, wondering what the heck was going on, while the Monsters just seemed content on singing their number rather than explain anything to the confused young man. " _See our differences ain't really that extreme, we're one big team!_ "

Suddenly the Monster that had grabbed him, pointed to an ox Monster across the room, who raised his foot, preparing to stomp it down on the board beside him. The exact board he was standing on, Marco realized. "Wait no!" Marco screamed in protest but the ox carried out with his plan, slamming his hoofed foot down with all his might sending Marco flying across the room and into a spin where he landed on a barrel at the very back of the room. But the thief wasn't offered a moment to rest as his weight caused it to shift and start rolling forward, Marco trying to frantically walk backwards fast enough to keep himself from falling off. "No, no, stop, stop, stop!" he yelled in a panic. But his terror only grew as he saw the Monsters now tossing flames back and forth to each other across the room and his heart dropped, knowing there was no way to stop from passing under the lit torches. "Star, Janna, help!" he screamed. But these two offered no help, Star suddenly missing from the scene and Janna just watching the show beside her new rat buddy. "Traitor!" he screamed to the bat. But he then had to focus his attention on dodging flames left and right, while the song continued at its rapid, upbeat pace. " _Call us brutal, sick, sadistic and grotesquely optimistic, cause way down deep inside we got a dream!_ "

The moment Marco was passed the immediate danger of third degree burns he breathed a sigh of relief before his barrel hit a chair causing him to fall off, being caught in the waiting arms of Star. "Hey Marco! That looked like fun, can I go next?!" she smiled down at him, oblivious to his previous plight.

"What no, Star. That wasn't a game, my life was in danger!"

"Uh huh, cool," she said, clearly not listening as she looked around at everything else going on around her and Marco just sighed knowing it was pointless when she was like this. "Can you put me down now, please?" he asked instead.

As for the rest of the restaurant, different members of the crowd had began chanting the same phrase over and over again while wild, rambunctious antics broke out all over the restaurant.

" _I've got a dream!_ " Tossing barrels, boxes, sometimes even each other back and forth across the room.

" _I've got a dream!_ " Some swinging from the chandeliers raining their full cups of rum down onto the bar below.

" _I've got a dream!_ " Ludo still hanging from the ropes with silent annoyance was surrounded by singing patrons who all seemed to be way too into the song at this point and he rolled his eyes.

" _I've got a dream!_ " Someone doing a series of backflips across the entire length of the store, nearly hitting the still recovering Marco who dodged out of the way as the athletic Monster launched himself out the window shattering it into a million pieces.

The young man looked at the window in shock, before he felt an arm loop through his, looking over to see Star with a bright smile on her face which seemed to set off some kind of electric spark through his body, making his brain turn instantly to mush. "Come on, Marco! It's time for the grand finale."

The boy didn't argue or fight as the two made it to the center of the room, in the spotlight once more as everyone in the room sang in perfect harmony, " _Yes why down deep inside we've got a dreaaaaammmmm!_ " They all held that note for as long as they could before the music finally cut off and a loud cheer rang through the restaurant a final time, everyone throwing their hands into the air, some raising their cups before gulping down the intoxicating liquid within.

Ruberiot let out a tired sigh as he finally relaxed, letting his tired arms drop as he settled lazily down on his stool. "Finally," he moaned in relief, glad the musical number was over.

"One more time!" Lobster Claws yelled and the musician looked on the verge of fainting as everyone cheered their support for the idea.

But Ruberiot was saved by Tom who suddenly yelled from the front of the room, "No! No more singing!"

"Awwww," came the collective response, all of them sounding like a bunch of disappointed kids, and the Monster teen just face-palmed again.

"I'm working with a bunch of idiots," he hissed, slowly running a hand down his face.

While this was going on, Star and Marco just stood panting for a moment, looking around the room with bright smiles on their faces, before they suddenly became aware their arms were still linked and they quickly pulled away with blushing cheek, sharing an awkward chuckle. "S-So," Marco began with a slight stutter in his voice. He cleared his throat before continuing, "That was-"

But before the boy could finish his thought the door to the bar slammed open as Meat Fork stood proudly in the doorway, shouting, "I found the guards!"

Everyone in the room froze, except Buff Frog who faster than Marco or Star could respond, grabbed onto their arms and dragged them out of sight. Janna spotted this and quickly flew over to join her friends. The smiling Meat Fork was violently shoved aside a second later and Kelly appeared in the doorway with a determined and angered look in her eyes. "Where's Marco?!" she demanded. "Where is he?!"

"Whoa, babe, calm down!" Tad spoke up from behind her and she shot him a glare that could kill on sight.

"Shut it Tad, I'll decide when to calm down, not you!" she hissed in a warning tone and the boy gulped and backed down. With her ex properly berated, she turned her attention back to the group of startled criminals in front of her. She began walking around the restaurant looking for any signs that her thief had been there, finally leaning against the bar's counter-top as she muttered to herself, "I know Diaz is here. I can feel it. And when I find him, he's gonna get what's coming to him."

Directly below her and hidden from sight, Star and Marco were trying not to lose their calm, holding their breath and hoping for the best. The blond looked over at her companion, her quizzical eyes asking him what the heck was going on. Marco shrugged but didn't dare say anything out loud to her, especially with the very perceptive Kelly hovering overhead, trying to silently tell her with his eyes that he would explain later.

"Ah hah!" Kelly exclaimed, pounding a fist against the counter, making both teens jump. "I knew it, I knew he was here!" she said, bending down so she could pick up the small strip of red fabric stuck to a loose nail on one of the chairs. "This piece of cloth had to have come from the one and only 'Red Thief of Corona'!"

The boy looked down at his sleeve and seeing the small rip in it, couldn't stop the groan of annoyance as he whispered, "Aww man, my jacket. This was the only one I owned." He crossed his arms, leaning back against his hiding spot with a sour look on his face.

Star meanwhile, risked a little peek, raising her head enough that she could see over the counter and she quickly took stock of the four guards in the room, her blue eyes jumping between each of them quickly, before lowering back to the floor. "Okay, so let's both jump out of here at the same time and catch them by surprise. If we work together we can take them out," Star whispered to her friend, punching a fist into her palm for emphasis.

"What? Are you crazy we can't go out there?" Marco hissed, doing his best to keep his voice low so as to not attract unwanted attention.

"Why not?" Star asked with slight annoyance.

"Because there's four of them and two of us."

"Oh come on, Marco. We can take them," Star pressed, the confidence on her face doing nothing to dissuade Marco's answer.

"Yeah no, we aren't risking that," Marco said firmly, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"Well we have to do something before these guys turn us in," Star pointed out.

"We just sang a musical number with them all. I don' think they're gonna-"

"I know where Marco Diaz is," Tom suddenly spoke up, interrupting Marco's thoughts and the two teens shared a fearful look.

"Oh right Tom," Marco whispered worriedly. He had forgotten all about the angry teen, surely he would rat them out.

"Well then why didn't you just say so," Kelly said in annoyance, moving over to the Monster teen and staring at him stonily. "Where is he? Tell me and you'll be rewarded."

Tom ignored the hated glares he was receiving from his fellow Monsters as he kept eye contact with the captain, keeping up an emotionless mask. "He's-" the teen started and Star and Marco both clenched their eyes shut in fear. This was it. "-hiding in one of those barrels," the teen finally replied, pointing off behind him, where a pile of barrels lay.

Star and Marco held back their gasps, but shared a surprised look. Had Tom just willingly saved them?

"What no he's not," Ludo began, with an infuriated tone. "He's-" But he was quickly cut off as one of the Monster's slapped a claw over his mouth to silence him, only muffled, angry yells could be slightly heard after that from the small bird Monster.

Kelly wasted no time as she charged over to the barrels, drew a sword and began chopping them open, each time with a loud yell which then turned into a disappointed and irritated groan, before moving on to the next one. The Monsters and three guards just watched her as she continued on like this for a while. Finally, Kelly turned to her stunned guards and yelled, "Well, why are you three just standing there, help me!" The three, Tad, Oscar, and Justin, rushed over and began trying to help her open up the barrels as well, though with less vigor and enthusiasm as their leader.

Tom looked over to Buff Frog and gave a slight nod of his head, signaling him to get the two out of there while the guards were distracted. The amphibian nodded back, his eyes showing his thanks for protecting the two and Tom just glared in response, tipping his head sharply toward the bar his impatience beginning to show through.

Buff Frog obeyed, dropping down to his knee as he leaned over the two, who stared up at him with confusion, and whispered, "Follow me."

The two nodded and obeyed, crawling forward as the frog Monster tried to subtly walk over to a couple of switches that seemingly allowed the many racks of alcoholic beverages around them to be poured. He quickly pushed one of them down and a trap down slowly fell away, revealing a hidden passage. Star and Marco looked inside the dark tunnel with wide-eyes, until Star felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked over to see Buff Frog smiling down at her, "Go and live dream, both of you."

"Thanks, Buff Frog, we owe you one," Marco said, giving him a bright smile, before sliding inside.

"Thank you so much," Star whispered, her cheer and brightness still ringing in her tone as she gave him a quick hug. The frog smiled giving her the gentlest squeeze back, before helping her slide down into the tunnel herself. He pushed the last bit of hair inside with her, than sealed the door back. He stood up and looked back over to the rest of the bar.

Kelly now stood in front of Tom, her face an inch from his, her fiery eyes digging deep into his as she hissed, "What are you trying to pull? There was nothing in there!"

"Oh really, my bad, must have been mistaken," Tom said with a shrug, though he couldn't quite keep the smirk off his lips.

"Don't test me, demon," Kelly shouted, her voice low and warning. "I know he's here somewhere and if you get in the way, I will have you and everyone else here thrown in the deepest dungeon I can find!"

Tom's eyes narrowed at the threat, barely glowing red, as he growled out, "Fine you know what if you want Marco so bad then you can just-"

But Tom never got to finish his angry retort as Lobster Claws suddenly shouted out from the crowd, "I can't take it anymore!" He pushed his way through the crowd, holding his claws together in front of the confused captain, as if awaiting handcuffs. His voice was begging and sorrowful as he exclaimed teary-eyed, "Just arrest me, I'm the one you want!"

"Uhh, who are you?" Kelly asked with a raised eyebrow, Tom giving him an incredulous look beside her.

"I'm... Marco Diaz," the lobster declared dramatically.

There was a short pause as Kelly just gave the Monster a blank stare, clearly not buying his story. Finally she just scoffed and began storming toward the exit grumbling, "C'mon guys, we're leaving," The three hurriedly obeyed their leader's commands, rushing to her side. "This was a waste of my valuable time."

Tom, Buff Frog and the other Monster all shared elated smiles behind the guards back, looking quite pleased with their victory over successfully helping their new friends elude capture. But then out of nowhere, the doors to the room burst open, a large horse standing proudly and heroically in the doorway, her pink mane blowing in the breeze behind her. "What's with the dumb horse?" one of the Monsters whispered and Pony shot them a glare that looked as if she were trying to mentally set them on fire, which she was.

"What, Pony?" Kelly said, looking at her horse with skepticism. "How are you here? I kinda thought you died or ran off with that thief or whatever."

Pony gave a sour look at the mention of the stupid turd who had humiliated her and gave a little neigh and shake of her head. _Uh uh, I wasn't sticking with that loser for longer than necessary. And now I'm tracking him down so that I can get back at that turd for what he did to me._

Kelly, not understanding what she was saying, crossed her arms and said, "Okay well however you got back, at least I have something to ride on now."

"Hey, maybe she knows where Marco went?" Oscar suggested and the other two knights nodded in agreement.

"Yeah that sounds good," Justin said enthusiastically.

"Good thinking, bro," Tad added, patting him once on the back.

Kelly just massaged her aching head with her fingertips. She couldn't believe she had to put up with these morons. "Ugh, that's ridiculous," she snapped at them. "She's just a horse, what do you think she could possibly do to-"

Suddenly a neigh brought their attention to Pony who was now behind the bar, pointing at the several levels with her hoof, a satisfied and cocky smirk on her snout. Kelly walked over there, pushing Buff Frog (who was trying to desperately convince her otherwise of going over there) aside and examined the three levers closely. Pony who grew quickly impatient, quickly pushed one of the levers, one with a ducky shape on the top of it and a secret passage way opened up before them. "Ah ha, a hidden tunnel of course," Kelly said eagerly. But seeing the smirk from her horse she quickly rolled her eyes and said, "Beginners luck."

The two raced inside, Kelly shouting to the others, already echoed by the tunnels, "Come on, guys! What are you waiting for?!"

Tad, Oscar, and Justin were quick to follow after that, shouting after her in a flustered mess, "Y-Yes ma'am! Sorry ma'am!"

The moment they were all gone, the Monsters all just stared at the passage in a mixture of shock, guilt, and confusion. Finally Lobster Claws looked around at his fellow Monsters and asked, "So uh, do we chase after them or-"

"No," Tom said firmly, but shook his head sorrowfully. "We did what we could. But if we go after them now, we'll only just end up getting ourselves arrested. They're on their own now." The Monsters still seemed depressed at this fact, until Tom added, "They can handle themselves though, I'm sure they'll be fine."

Buff Frog looked at the entrance with longing, wanting to go after to try and help them, but Tom was right, they seemed liked they could handle themselves and at the very least they looked like they could protect one another well enough. He couldn't risk getting in too deep, he did still have his own kids to provide for.

"So what do we do now?" someone asked, as the uncomfortable tension began to ease up some.

"How about... another song?!" Lobster Claws suggested brightly and Tom just face-palmed as the familiar accordion started up again and the next musical number began, much to the flame-headed teen's dismay.

…

Star and Marco walked silently side by side down the dark passage, the boy carrying a lit torch as they traveled the dusty trail. It was clear it hadn't been used in years as cobwebs and grim was found everywhere, but neither were too concerned about that, their thoughts on the previous events that had taken place in the bar. Star seemed excited like usual, but Marco wasn't sure what to say now that they were alone again, intensely aware of Star's presence beside him at all times.

Out of the corner of his eye Marco noticed a skeleton pinned to the wall by a large sword and he felt a slight shudder go up his spine. _Well that isn't foreboding at all._ He decided to pull his attention away from the sight before his thoughts could get the best of him and instead turned to Star, whose crystal blue eyes were twinkling in the dim light. He smiled, finding her face precious and pretty, but quickly coughed to cover his suddenly flushed cheeks. This drew her attention onto him and to avoid any sort of awkward silence said the first thing that came to his mind, "So, uh, guess that Tom guy wasn't all bad after all."

Star nodded. "Yeah, he's alright. They all were," she said brightly. "I'm glad we got to meet them."

"They were definitely full of surprises," Marco agreed. He cleared his throat once before adding, "And uh, so were you."

Star gave him a startled look, before it widened into a wide smile, her eyes full of so much joy that Marco felt his heart skip a beat. "Really? You think so?"

Marco nodded quickly. "Yeah, I mean, when those guys were ready to attack us, you stuck up for me and you didn't back down. It was pretty incredible, actually."

Star's face blushed but she kept her focus on Marco as she said thoughtfully, "Yeah, I guess it was."

Marco was now nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm not really used to people sticking up for me, so... thanks."

Star made a curious face, before finally saying, "Your welcome, that's just what friends do for each other."

Marco turned to her with surprise. "F-Friends," he stuttered.

"Yeah, we are friends, right?" she asked expectantly and Marco smiled and nodded.

"Of course. I just... didn't realize we were," he said softly and Star could now see his eyes twinkling with joy.

Star paused for a moment, not sure if she should ask him one of the many burning questions she had had since they met, but she decided one wouldn't hurt so she asked simply, "So Marco, where are you from?"

"Oh uh, I don't really talk about my past," Marco said quickly, the nervousness immediately back in his eyes.

"Oh," Star replied, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice and he gave her guilty frown. "Well that's okay," she said quickly, not wanting to make him feel bad for his decision. After all, there were plenty of parts about her own past she didn't feel like discussing. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Marco opened his mouth to respond, when there was a loud noise behind them. The two recognized it as a distant, echoed yell and the two swerved to see torchlight following along behind them... and getting closer. Star gasped, her eyes widening some in fear. _Oh no, they had found them._

She felt a hand grip her arm as Marco shouted, "Run!" The two took off down the tunnel, Star praying her hair didn't get caught on anything and jeopardize their escape. They could now more clearly hear the angry shouts of their pursuers and this only pushed Star to run faster, her legs beginning to burn as she pushed them to their max.

Finally, Star saw a light up ahead and let out a relieved sigh. "Oh Marco, we're almost home free." With one final push to her stubborn legs she was able to make it out of the dark tunnels and into the blinding sunshine. She was about to let out a victorious laugh, when she heard Marco yell, "Wait Star!" and her chest rammed into something soft but firm, bringing the blond to an immediate stop. She looked down to see Marco's arm in front of her, stopping her from running off the cliff they had reached, Star feeling a bit dizzy as she looked with horror at the long drop below. "Sorry," Marco sheepishly apologized. "I just didn't want you to-"

"No, no, you did the right thing," Star told him quickly. The two took a quick moment to survey the scene, they were at some sort of dam, a large wheel turning beside them, pumping fresh water into a series of wooden shafts that carried the water safely through the large canyon.

"So how do we get across?" Star asked and Marco just cringed openly. "I uhhh-"

Suddenly the two heard loud footsteps behind them and they both turned to see the guards had caught up with them. Star wanted to take a step back, but considering they were on the edge of the cliff as is, she settled for holding up her frying pan in a battle stance, growling low under her breath in warning.

Marco grabbed the girl's arm and told her in a squeaky, nervous tone, "Star this is not the time to go leaping into danger."

Star gasped, her eyes lighting up as she exclaimed, "That's it!" Before Marco could question whatever idea had just entered her head, she quickly shoved her frying pan right in his direction, shouting, "Here hold this!" She didn't even realize she had just slammed the heavy metal right into his stomach, causing him to temporarily lose his breath and release a pained, "Oof!"

The blond swerved on her heels and, grabbing a length of her hair, threw it over toward a hanging wooden beam a short distance away. Her hair wrapped easily around it, creating a make-shift rope for her to swing on. She smiled and gave one tug to make sure her hair was secure before leaping off the side of the cliff with a loud yell. "Whooohoooo!"

Marco watched her sail across the short distance before landing easily on a ledge nearby. His mouth hung open in shock until he heard the sound of ringing metal and turned to see Kelly and her three guard companions had drawn their swords, moving menacingly closer to their enemy. "Your not getting away this time, Diaz," Kelly hissed.

"Umm, I know you're probably mad about what happened earlier but I've kinda got my hands full at the moment, so any chance you would accept a formal apology and let me go?" Marco tried weakly and the captain's eyes seemed to narrow even more at that.

"The only thing I'll accept from you is your surrender or your death, your choice," Kelly spat aggressively.

Marco just let out a deep sigh. "I figured you'd say that," he said numbly, before raising up the only weapon he had at his arsenal, Star's frying pan. Kelly charged him with a loud scream and he easily deflected her blade, sending her stumbling off to the side of him, buying him a few seconds without having to worry about her impaling him.

Next came Oscar, who's sloppy form was easily overpowered by Marco's more experienced technique, blocking the weak swing before smacking the sword completely out of his hand and sending it tumbling down the cliff. "Hey no fair, man!" Oscar whined, before he was hit full force by the rusted metal pan, knocking him completely out cold.

Tad, desperate to both avenge his comrade and impress his ex, swung his sword down with all his might, but the red-hooded thief just stepped to the side before smacking him with the frying pan, sending the poor guard flying back.

Justin almost caught Marco off guard, attacking while he was distracted with Tad and his furious lunge would have gone unnoticed if he hadn't stupidly yelled, "Take this!" as he did so. Marco quickly swerved around, blocking the swing, before countering a few more attempted strikes, Justin was definitely more skilled than the others, but the frying pan was just too big an obstacle for him to get around and eventually he too was incapacitated by an unexpected smack to the face from the notorious Red Thief.

Marco looked down at the three unconscious bodies laying at his feet. He had somehow managed to defeat all three of the "elite" guards in the span of only a few seconds. "Huh that went surprisingly better than I expected," he muttered to himself.

"Whoo, you go Marco! Rock that frying pan!" came Star's encouraging yell from the neighboring cliff.

Kelly, seeing all three of her guards defeated, growled in anger and shouted, "Okay, that's it, I'm taking you down!"

"Oh yeah," Marco taunted, feeling more confident since it looked like he was actually going to win this fight. "You and what army?"

"Marco look out!" came a warning yell from Star and Marco saw a sword heading right for him out of the corner of his eye. He screamed and raised his frying pan to block, just barely managing to stop the blade from impaling itself in his eye, but it caused him to stumble back and nearly fall off the cliff he was now once more at the edge of. He heard Star scream his name again but managed to regain his balance, so that he thankfully didn't fall to his death.

He looked over to see who his new opponent was only for his mouth to drop open at the sight of that stupid horse from before now holding a sword in its teeth and aiming it right at him. "Whhhaattt the-" Marco began in pure confusion and shock until he was cut off as he was forced to dodge out of the way of the mad horse's furious and incredibly fast lunge.

"That'ta girl!" Kelly yelled encouragingly to her pony. "We got him now!" She quickly joined in on the effort and Marco found his hands full trying to fight off two surprisingly skilled opponents. Meanwhile, Star was yelling encouraging and helpful things to her friend, who was beginning to sweat and pant at the effort it was taking just to keep from being impaled. "Yeah, Marco you got this! Oh look out, the horse if trying to sneak up behind you! Oh if you block the angry girl's swing you should be able to- Oh no, not like that!" She cringed seeing Marco getting thrown back by a kick from the girl, luckily not in the direction of the cliff. "Okay good effort but maybe if you-" She cut herself off again, as Marco blocked a swing from the horse, making him lose his balance at the effort, tripping and rolling across the dirt before jumping back up to his feet again.

"Yeah, this isn't going so well," Star said softly to herself. She looked over to her bat companion and said in a confident voice, "Come on, Jan. Marco needs our help."

The bat nodded before leaving her shoulder and flying across the massive gap over to where Marco was beginning to be overpowered by the relentless duo of Kelly and Pony. Janna quickly began flying around Kelly's head, pulling at strands of her hair to try and keep her attention on her and the girl guard was quick to fall for this trap. "Hey! Knock it off!" she began waving her arm and sword at the bat that continued to annoy her by flying around her head over and over again, obscuring her view. "Get away from me you pest!" Kelly screamed in pure frustration and Janna just smirked relentlessly. If only she had remembered her matches, then she really could have created a diversion, but guess this was good enough for now.

Marco, meanwhile, was still trying to fight off Pony Head, who never once let off her relentless onslaught. "What the heck is even happening!" Marco screamed in pure panic and bewilderment as he matched blow after blow from the crazy horse.

"Your doing great, Marco!" Star yelled encouragingly to her friend, while trying to loop her hair securely around a sharp rocking sticking out from the ledge.

"I'm fighting a horse!" was all he screamed in reply. Finally, Pony managed to take advantage of Marco's disarray and knock the frying pan out of his hand, the two watching as its tumble to the ground below, before the teen looked back over at the horse and said, "Wow, fun stuff. But I'll just be going now."

Before he could even make a move away from the crazed horse, Pony had the knife to Marco's throat and he gulped loudly, trying to halt his breathing out of fear of accidentally slicing his neck open. Star gasped seeing the position of her friend and yelled, "Marco!" Taking the end of her hair she threw it across the gap, managing to reach all the way across, where her hair looped around his arm, tightening into a firm knot. Before anyone could react Star yanked on her hair with all her might, causing Marco to fall back off the cliff, with a loud girlish scream. Pony just watched the scene flabbergasted, while Kelly, who was finally rid of Janna as she flapped away after properly distracting the guard, just whined in frustration and crossed her arms childishly in front of her chest, "What, no?! Come on that's not even fair! I wanted to throw him off the cliff!"

Marco felt his heart leap into his throat as the ground rushed toward him, or he rushed toward the ground, he was too panicked right now to tell the difference. His life flashed before his eyes, until he heard a voice from above yell, "Hang on, Marco! I got you!" He felt the hair around his arm go taunt and suddenly instead of plummeting to his death he was now soaring through the air across the large canyon and his scream of terror turned into a triumphant yell of joy. "Whooo, oh man this is great! I've never felt so alive!"

"Marco look out!" Star screamed, struggling to keep her hair in place as Marco's weight was causing her hair to try and slip off from the rock she had it wrapped around.

"What?!" Marco yelled to the blond, the wind rushing past his ears making it hard for him to hear his friend, so he tried to look over his shoulder to see what she was talking about only for Marco's body to slam directly into a hanging board connected to the wooden shafts jutting through the canyon. He moaned in pure agony and pain as his aching ribs and stomach took the impact of the collision, feeling like fire in his chest.

"I was trying to warn you, you were about to hit something," Star sheepishly explained to her friend.

"Yeah, I got that," Marco coughed out in a strained tone.

Kelly, seeing the rival thief had not fallen to his death and instead was looking like he might escape her capture, she jumped back into action, exclaiming, "Oh no you don't!" The green-haired girl quickly snatched her weapon off the ground and used it to easily slice a large pillar in half, causing it to fall over and create a bridge across to Star's ledge.

"That can't be good," Star muttered in concern.

"Star!" came Marco's yell from below her and she turned to see him, now standing and recovered, holding the end of her hair. "Quick jump!"

"Okay!" Star screamed without hesitation, taking a few steps back before doing a running leap off the ledge. Kelly rushed across the board hoping to catch her target's accomplice, diving for her but she missed by mere inches, hitting the ground hard and watching in defeat as the blond came to a smooth landing on the ground below, Marco sliding down the water pipes all the way to the bottom and landing on his butt at the girl's feet. She growled and stood, punching the nearest board in her anger, causing it to snap in half and a rush of water and a loud groan from the dam behind her alerted her to her mistake too late. She slowly turned around to see the cracks forming all over the large dam as without its support beams in place it began to break apart.

"Aw, dang it!" Kelly groaned, before a rush of water hit her.

Star was just helping Marco up, telling him in a positive tone, "Well that went way better than expected," before the two heard the loud groaning and ear-splitting shatter behind them and they turned to see the dam break, shattering wood and falling structures raining down around them, a wall of water rapidly ascending toward them. "Run!" Star and Marco screamed as one, running for their lives as a mountain of water followed behind, quickly gaining speed on them, threatening to sweep them away and drown them in its depths. The water in its attempt to completely fill the canyon, crashed into the side of a large rock outcropping, the sure force of hundreds of pounds of water hitting it at once causing the whole thing to tip over and begin falling directly toward the two escaping teens.

Star and Marco never stopped running, keeping their focus on the small cave entrance they could see just ahead, both of them carrying as much of the girl's hair as they could possibly hold. Finally they made one last sprint for the entrance reaching it just as the rock slammed down behind them, sealing off the entrance inside as a huge wave of water crashed against its side.

The two panted in the pitch blackness of the cave, blinking a few times as they waited for their eyes to adjust. "J-Janna," Star gasped out, still struggling to gain enough air flow from her burning lungs to speak. "Wh-Where is Janna?" she asked feeling panickingly around in the dark, fearful that her pet had been swept away in the water.

"She probably flew away when the dam broke," Marco said.

"Um, hey, Marco," Star's nervous voice spoke up and he looked over to her with concern. "Is the water... rising to you?" she asked, biting her lip as she felt the pool of water that had once been at her ankles slowly rising up her legs as the small cave filled with water.

The red-hooded teen now picked up on what the blond was talking about, the water level slowly rising. "That's not good," Marco muttered in worry, looking around at the tiny little cave they had found themselves trapped in. "We gotta find a way out of here."

Star nodded and the two (their eyes now fully adjusted to the darkness) began feeling around the small space for any signs of an exit, Marco trying to pry the rocks loose with his bare hands, hoping to pull them away and reveal some sort of hidden entrance. Their search became more and more panicked as cold water continued to inch its way up, Star shivering in the chill as her bare legs felt the full force of her careless choice in clothing. Their breath became fogged and ragged as they fought desperately for a way out, Marco eventually having to give up on his attempts to remove the rock walls that walled them in after he sliced his hand open on a sharp rock and he hissed and clutched at his bleeding palm in pain.

Quickly running out of options as the water level reached her stomach and still rising, Star began trying to slam herself into the wall until her shoulder ached, hoping for some kind of give, some kind or results, just... something. Marco meanwhile, dived underwater, hoping to find a way out in the murky depths that were threatening to drown them. But after a few seconds of searching, he gave up this futile hope, unable to pick up anything in the inky blackness he found himself in. He quickly resurfaced, trying to wipe the water out of his eyes as he said shakily, "I can't see anything down there, I-I think we're stuck."

Star stared at him for a second or two before sucking in a breath and then diving underwater herself. She was down below the water for only a few seconds before she came up coughing and sputtering. She took a couple of short breaths, before starting to dive underwater again, only this time, Marco stopped her, grabbing her firmly but gently by the shoulders. "Hey, hey, Star," he said softly, giving her a sad smile. "That's not going to work."

"S-So what?" Star asked, her voice quivering as fear and defeat began to settle in. "We just stay here and die."

Marco didn't answer but the look in his eyes told Star everything as her own blue orbs widened in terror, feeling tears beginning to surface. "No, no there has to be a way, Janna is probably looking for us, maybe she can bring help, or- or-"

"Star," the hooded teen spoke up, the broken, emptiness in his voice, freezing Star to the bone. "That isn't going to work. I'm sorry."

"No," the girl muttered, taking a step back until it collided with the wall behind her. "No this can't be the end. I was supposed to see the floating lights. I was supposed to live and do something for once in my life." The tears were falling freely now as she sobbed openly, unable to hide her grief in what was looking to be her final moments. The water was halfway up her chest now, it wouldn't be long before they ran out of air. "Instead- Instead I'm going to die," she cried, weeping as tears poured down her cheeks.

"At least Janna got away safe," Marco said, trying to in some way reassure the girl. He hated seeing her so sad.

Star just sniffed and said, "I'm so sorry Marco, I never should have brought you out here, its because of me your going to die, too."

Marco leaned back against the wall as well, staring off into nothingness before he finally said, "It's okay. I'm honestly kinda glad."

Star sniffed, asking, "Hmm?"

Marco smiled sadly. "Well before I met you, I didn't really ever take all that many chances, I always played things safe, even when I'd pull a heist or whatever I always spent weeks planning things out, I could never just... be spontaneous like you." He rubbed his arm awkwardly, taking a deep breath before admitting, "The truth is I'm actually not all that brave. I kinda just pretend to be. I'm actually pretty cautious and safe."

Star gave a tiny chuckle, wiping the tears from her eyes. The water was now almost up to their chins. "What made you bring that up?"

Marco shrugged. "Well I figured if I was going to die, someone should know the real me," he said, his face grim as he mentioned the word 'die'. His cheeks blushed mildly as he added, "And I'm kinda glad it's you."

Star smiled, giving him a thoughtful look before declaring, "I have magic hair that glows when I sing."

Marco's body froze up, his eyes widening with uncertainty and shock as he muttered out numbly, "Uhhh, wha?"

Suddenly, an idea entered Star's mind as softly whispered, her voice growing louder with each word until it was an elated shout, "I have... magic hair that _glows when I sing_!"

Marco still just continued to stare at her like she had three heads until she suddenly sang, " _Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine._ " But that was as far as she could get before the cave was completely submerged in water, the two taking one last gasp of air before they were pulled under by the relentless tide.

There was a couple of seconds of just pure black nothingness for Marco, the only thought entering his mind in that moment was, _This is it_. Until he felt a glow burning against his eyelids and in his confusion he opened his eyes, wondering if he was already dead and that this light was there to guide him into the after-life. But instead he found himself looking at Star, her blond hair lit up golden as bright as a miniature sun and one of the most breathtaking and bizarre sights Marco had ever seen. He nearly gasped in shock, but remembering he was underwater and that that would only end up drowning him, he was somehow able to fight the urge.

Marco pushed aside his shock, knowing they had a very short amount of time, before looking around for some sort of exit. He quickly spotted a small hole where water seemed to be seeping through. He shared a look with Star, reading her piercing blue gaze as the two swam over to the pile of rocks, trying to both frantically paw them away and escape this horrible death they were being faced with. Finally after what felt like an eternity, when both of their lungs felt like they were on fire and they that they couldn't hold their breath any long, their bodies begging for oxygen, Marco's hand burst through to the other side, his hand feeling around for a second before finally pulling the last rock free and busting the sealed entrance open as they were both thrown harshly into the river.

The two both surfaced, coughing and sucking in as much air as their abused lungs could take in at once, crawling their way out of the river bank and laying in the grass for a few seconds just panting for breath. "We're alive," Star breathed happily.

"Your hair glows," the boy breathed, still in shock by the bizarre event that had led to his life being saved. He was grateful sure, but now that the near death-experience passed, he was also confused and stunned, incapable of comprehending what had just happened to him.

"We made it, Marco!" Star squealed in delight, giving the boy a quick hug. The boy made no movement at all, his eyes just staring blankly off into the distance, his mouth hanging open. Star jumped to her feet, striking a dramatic pose, as she triumphantly declared, "Ha, take that world! Gotta do more than that to kill us, right Marco?"

"She has glowing hair," Marco was weakly muttering to himself and Star was starting to grow worried about her friend's mental state.

"Uh, Marco you okay?" she asked, leaning down over him, watching as his eyes seemed to stare right through her.

"I fought a horse, we met singing monsters, your hair glows," the boy said numbly, before exclaiming, "Are there any other mind-blowing revelations someone wants to surprise me with?!"

"Hey, loser, head's up," came an unknown voice, right before he was hit in the head with a frying pan.

"OW!" Marco screamed, sitting upright and massaging his aching nose. "Who the heck threw that?!" He turned to glare at whoever had the bright idea to chuck something at him while he was clearly out of it, only to stare in shock at a dark-haired, beanie-wearing girl smirking back at him, her brown eyes instantly filling him with recognition. What was that-

Star gasped. "Janna Banana, you got away!" She quickly threw her arms around the girl in a tight hug, giggling with joy and relief and the girl merely hugged her back, while giving Marco a cryptic grin.

"I brought you your frying pan back, your welcome," the girl said.

"Aww, that was so thoughtful of you," Star cooed, giving her a grateful look.

"Wha- Bu- How?!" was all Marco managed to stutter out, his brain incapable of forming a single sentence or heck even more than one word without completely shutting down. "Your a human!" he finally managed to exclaim.

"Actually I'm a bat," the now-human Janna said matter-of-factly. "I can only turn human for like an hour every day."

"Wait but how-" Marco asked in exasperation.

"I was cursed," the girl replied with simple shrug.

Marco looked over to Star before asking, "Are you cursed, too?"

"Wellll not really," the blond hesitantly replied, not looking too sure of her answer herself. "It's more of a... magical gift."

"Oh he saw your hair glow," Janna said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, but he doesn't know what it does yet," Star explained to her friend.

"Hmm, I'm surprised, I didn't think you'd show anyone that."

"Well, I was kinda outta options and I think we can trust him."

"If you say so."

Marco just gaped at the two girls as they talked amongst each other, before finally exclaiming at the top of his lungs, "What is going on?!" His voice cracked on the last word and the two girls just shared a look.

Janna sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh great, he's totally freaking out. This is why I didn't want him to know."

Star shot Janna a look before turning to the boy with a sweet, reassuring smile, that (despite the confusion he was feeling) he couldn't help but blush upon seeing it. "Relax, Marco," she said in a calm voice. "I'll explain everything."

…

Ludo was fuming as he exited the Snuggly Duckling, needing an escape from the loud, rambunctious music that had yet to cease since the two teens had left. At the thought of the two troublemakers he growled under his breath. He couldn't believe everyone had fallen for their whole innocent act, they were clearly just trying to save their own skin. He had been ready to turn them in and collect the reward but noooo the others just had to cover for them and even help them escape. He had hoped that at the very least Tom would have been on his side but then the stupid flaming teen had to go and show some character growth. Why couldn't he just realize his roll and stay the villain like him!?But then that's what happened when you worked around a bunch of morons, your genius ideas fell on deaf ears and you ended up out voted by a bunch of idiots.

He leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed in front of his chest, as he muttered through clenched teeth, "They just had to let those stupid kids get away. I could make a fortune off of that Diaz kid. If I ever see them again, I'll-"

"Oooorrr," a voice suddenly spoke up, snapping Ludo out of his thoughts and he jolted upright, looking up at the woman hovering over him. Her teal hair had streaks of gray and her smooth skin showed the beginning signs of wrinkles starting to form, but she seemed to hold herself with an air of confidence and power. She had a pleasant smile, but her eyes seemed to hide some sort of secret behind them. Upon closer inspection, Ludo wasn't sure what to think of this woman. "You could go find them yourself, if you're so desperate for money."

"And what's it to you what I do?" Ludo asked, raising a distrustful eyebrow toward the human.

The woman shrugged, her expression never changing, her eyes seemingly digging into his skin. "Well it just so happens I'm after them as well and I thought I could use a partner to help me out," she said smoothly, calmly, but her voice didn't leave any room for argument.

"Why should I help you?" Ludo asked, still skeptical of the woman.

She didn't waver for a second as she replied, "Because I know more about them than you do. In fact, I know where they are headed, I know a secret about one of them you don't, and-"

She reached into the satchel she now had clinging to her waste, pulling out the crown. "If you help me, I'll give you this, as a gift of my appreciation."

Ludo's eyes shined with greed as he stared at the golden crown of his desires, unable to speak or look away from the object. But he finally, shook his head free from the distraction, saying, "Yeah well I don't trust humans, so I'm not helping you."

The woman let out a long sigh, before saying, "Fine." Then to Ludo's surprise she added, "Here, I have no need for this," before tossing the crown his way, the kappa Monster's claws fumbling to grab it out of the air, before holding it tightly in his claws, practically drooling on the object.

He laughed manically, quickly hiding it from her view as he taunted, "Ha, stupid human! That was a huge mistake!" He started to walk away, back into the Snuggly Duckling to find a good place to hide it, when the woman said, "Oh well, I'll just be on my way then, if you did agree to help me I was going to give you something worth at least three of those crowns but I can see that doesn't interest you."

Ludo paused, before slowly turning back around to face the woman, her back to him now. "Wait, what are you talking about?"

Eclipsa smiled to herself, knowing she had just won the little Monster over. Her plan had worked perfectly, the moment she had gotten to the inn and overheard through the thin wood her daughter proclaiming her love for the outside world and her desire to never go back, she had been scheming up a new plan to reclaim what was hers. And the first step was recruiting a Monster to help her. And then low and behold but she found one that despised her daughter's traveling companion and was willing to do practically anything if it meant a big paycheck. Not to mention he was incredibly gullible.

She turned back around, making sure to put on her warm smile once more, saying politely down to the little Monster, "Well, to put it simply that girl Marco Diaz is traveling with has healing powers."

Ludo didn't look convinced, raising another skeptical eyebrow, before scoffing to himself, "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"Well how else do you explain the most wanted thief in the kingdom keeping some random girl with him. He's keeping her powers all to himself."

"That rat," Ludo growled, buying into her lie much easier than Eclipsa had expected. "Of course he would horde all the good treasure for himself, what a selfish little brat!"

 _Look who's talking_ , Eclipsa thought to herself, but didn't dare say it out loud.

"Okay fine, you got yourself a deal," Ludo proclaimed, throwing his hand out for her to take.

"Pleasure doing business with you, I'm sure," Eclipsa said, bending down to shake his hand. "You can call me Lady Eclispa."

"Ludo Avarius," the Monster replied.

Eclipsa smiled brightly down at him, while carefully reaching her free hand behind her to make sure her knife was secure and out of sight. Then to help seal her trap, she said in the sweetest tone she could, "I think this is the start of a beautiful partnership."

Ludo's sappy smile was enough to tell her that the gullible Monster was completely in her clutches. Now for phase two...

 **Hope you guys liked it! I got really stuck on the musical number part which is why this chapter took so long. This was my first time writing a song fic and I wanted to make sure I did it right. For me they are difficult to do correctly because I like a good balance of lyrics and action, which is why I did my very hardest to give you just that. Plus, I didn't just want to copy-paste the scene from the movie so I added little things happening in the background of the song. I really hope it turned out okay, I really liked the final product. Also, for the record is anyone was wondering, I was using Justin the jock from Echo Creek, not Justin the Boy Queen as one of the guards. And I also tried to give Eclipsa a bit more motivation though its not much.**

 **As for the Janna twist, well you can thank my good friend, SugarQueen97 for the suggestion. She gave me the idea of making Janna a vampire and I just couldn't resist. She can't talk when she's a bat and can only turn human for a short period of time. I'll go more into it in the next chapter.**

 **Speaking of next chapter, so I know I told you all I was going to finish Tangled up but well, with it getting close to the holidays and Frozen 2 just starting to come out and figured now would be the perfect opportunity to do a Frozen AU chapter. I will finish up Tangled, I swear, but I really want to do something in celebration of both my favorite holiday and what is looking to be an awesome sequel (I haven't seen it just yet so no spoilers). I do have a question for you all though: Star is taking the part of Anna but who should take the part of Elsa. It's going to be either Meteora or Eclipsa and I think both fit the role super well, so I haven't been able to decide. Anways cast your vote and I will hopefully be back before Christmas, fingers crossed guys!**

 **Love you all, till next time!**

 **WaterDragonMaverick- Thank you! Haha, glad you felt that way, I know updates for this story have been slow so I appreciate you sticking with me! I wanted to try something different, I looked up as much art as I could for Star and Jackie as mermaids (and turns out there is a lot) so that I could give a unique look to both of them. I always liked the idea of Star dying the ends of her hair pink so I figured having her tail that way made sense and so I did Jackie's the same. It was a lot of fun to design their looks honestly. I usually refer to Jackie's hair as white for this reason, it makes her more identifiable from the others. Oh man I had a blast with Star's friends Janna was probably my favorite of the gang because her scenes are always too much fun! I wanted to have a pre-established relationship between Star and Marco so that it wasn't just love at first sight, plus their friendship is such a big part of why so many (including me) ship them. I am looking forward to the reunion as well as writing Eclipsa and her fam. They are a really happy family in the show so it will be great to have them in this and honestly it's just gonna be so much fun to do the Eclipsa scene. I will try and change things up from the movie so that it's not just reading the story you already know and whenever I get back to it, I'll make it worth the wait!**

 **Yeah, I made the villain pretty obvious mostly because I wanted to make sure everyone knew that the sea witch wasn't going to be the villain so Eclipsa's scene can be all the fun I want it to be. Brittney just fits the part really well, jealousy causing her to try and ruin Star's relationship with Marco, she'll basically be Vanessa (Ursula's disguise in the movie) but Star will know who she is and won't be able to stop her cause she can't speak and part of Brittney's spell basically makes Marco blind to her. I'm honestly not sure if I want her to demand Eclipsa help her or if she just steals the potions she needs without the sea witch noticing. Eclipsa will likely try and help Star out, but she can't do much without defying the laws of her magic. I'm really looking forward to the end of the story cause I absolutely want Eclipsa to be helpful to Star rather than the villain, the "fairy godmother" as you described it is the perfect role for her on here.**

 **Well I finally got it out, and yeah the Snuggly Duckling scene happened about how you expected. The musical number was a challenge but I think I pulled it off well and honestly I just added a bit here and there and didn't change too much because well... you don't mess with perfection, haha! Hope you enjoy it!**

 **SugarQueen97- Thank you so much! I did have an awesome birthday and honestly seeing so many reviews for this one was a great present, so thanks! Yeah I had to make her the awesome best friend to Star and not just existing to fill some useless love triangle. I think we've all had enough of that cliché. Honestly not really, I have scene the movies enough times that I just sorta know them by heart now, haha! Especially Little Mermaid that was my favorite movie growing up and I could probably quote it all the way through. Actually I could probably do that with a lot of Disney movies, haha. I occasionally look up a scene or two, like I did look up "Part of your World" for the last one but that was mostly so that I could get a good look at the location. And I watched the "I Got a Dream" scene several times writing this one since I was trying to get the song lyrics pretty close to the original. Overall I'm just one with the Disney movies so getting them pretty spot on the original is a gift, haha. XD**

 **Janna fits too well in every role I give her because she is the best! I love her scene so much, probably my favorite in the chapter. Oh man of course Star wouldn't know what gold is but yeah Janna likely does, she just isn't always there to correct her naïve friend's mistakes.**

 **Yep, I love writing Starco scenes and them being friends and having actually talked I think works much better for their relationship than just love at first sight. I love Star and Marco so much because of the fact that they were friends first so I had to make this change otherwise it just wouldn't feel right. Hahaha that is a good guess and definitely giving me some Miraculous vibes but my plan is for Marco to recognize Star but think her voice got damaged in the storm, making him sorta blame himself since he thinks it likely happened while rescuing him.**

 **Haha, there is a big difference between them for sure! Honestly, I love what cartoons have been giving us in recent years! Pushing away from the love at first sight and you can't be friends and be dating is a great call! The best relationships should be between friends, otherwise it most likely won't last, plus it leads to some of the cutest moments in all of television so I'm on board this fad as long as it lasts!**

 **Nothing Janna does is typical but yeah she does like to sneak on board nearby boats to steal their food and things. Tom doesn't have a roll actually... yet and now I just want that to be a thing! Great story! I loved it, the follow up would probably be:**

 **(At Tom's castle in his pool)**

 **Tom: (splashing around, trying to stay afloat) Help! Janna I'm drowning again! Come save me!**

 **Janna: (snacking on corn chips) Your not even in the deep end. You can just stand up.**

 **Tom: (stand up) Oh.**

 **Janna: (flirting) But if you want I could still give you mouth to mouth.**

 **Tom: (blushing) Not in front of the rabbit.**

 **(Janna leans in close to him)**

 **Janna: Then cover his eyes.**

 **Haha, flirty Janna is best Janna.**

 **They both would have fit that role pretty well admittedly. Oh yeah, I would love to make the High Commission humans at Marco's castle, though which ones are helpfully is anyone's guess. Ohhhh you know it, Angie and Rafie are gonna be so cute!**

 **I'm thinking Elsa will either be Meteora or Eclipsa and Star fits Anna too well! Tom is absolutely Hans (the bad prince) but I want to change it up so that he isn't evil. Don't worry I have plans for him, I would never make my boy a baddie, he is too special!**

 **Hahaha, oh man yeah, time to change the title cause wow does Marco fit the role of Tiana. To be honest I was thinking of doing a joke chapter featuring Princess Marco but I was basically going to do the scene from Wreck It Ralph 2 with him in its place. I like this idea much better now though, Marco and Star fit the roles so well and I think Tom would be a great pick for Charlotte!**

 **Mulan is pretty much that way and a fem reverse would also work incredibly well! Wow, I never realized just how perfectly Star and Marco fit multiple characters roles!**

 **Awww, that would be so cute! They are such a sweet couple! Oh my gosh someone who has seen and liked the second one, too! I wasn't a huge fan of the dark tone of the first so the sequel was right up my alley, most people think I'm crazy for it though. As much as I get not letting the two be alone, I did like the message in the first movie. Although Esmeralda and Phoebus ultimately ended up together she still needed Quasi as her friend to help her too. It was a unique message but I still didn't care for the movie. Also Toffee would be the villain in the AU for sure.**

 **Ohhh Jackie would be perfect for these two! That is how I interpret her and so putting her in the place of the single princesses would work really well! And Janna and Tom are always a win for me! Ship, ship, ship!**

 **The Vanellope AU won't probably even have Ralph in it, basically its going to be a single chapter and more or less Star is a glitch but she hides this from them to keep herself from being rejected and Marco is her rival racer. The whole chapter is going to be the race between them and will only feature the characters in Sugar Rush. I've been working on giving them names to fit the candy theme and it hasn't been easy but get this Star's name is Starburst Buttercup.**

 **Kelly deserves protagonist status in something I agree, just probably not on here. Oohhh my fairy ship! Yeah they would be too cute in these roles!**

 **I love the ideas and whether I use them or not I do really appreciate hearing them! It was a lot of fun to at the very least imagine them in these roles!**

 **Bedrock Armor- Oh wow thank you! Didn't realize my stories either hit 10/10 or surpassed it altogether for you! Thanks so much for the compliment! Sorry for the wait, haha, writer's block in the worst.**

 **Bella2be- Well as long as they don't have any negative opinions of him than that's fine! :)**

 **acosta perez jose ramiro- Thank you so much! I do my best and have a lot of fun with this series! Hey that's fine! I've had a few of my readers in the past with a certain sign off. It helps me identify you from the others for sure! Plus, yours is really sweet so I don't ever mind seeing it!**

 **DC the cat- Thank you so much! ;) Oh wow August is a pretty popular month for birthdays I guess. To be honest as I kid I hated it being in August cause it was always the hottest day of the year and so I couldn't have a party at the park like I wanted to. Now I think it is a great time of year cause I want to celebrate it indoors with the air conditioner on blast, haha! XD**

 **Glad you enjoyed! Star and Marco getting a chance to know one another before she loses her voice was an opportunity I couldn't pass up on! Their friendship is too pure and wholesome not to try and milk it as much as I possibly can! Plus, there relationship in the show is always built on their friendship, so it wouldn't feel right to change it on here. Hehe, me too! Jannaigans are like one of my favorite things. Her scenes just basically write themselves.**

 **Oh a fellow Atlantis fan! Oh man, right it has so many great things going for it that I don't even know if I can name them all! Your list is pretty spot on though! The action was wonderful! It had this nice level of suspense that really carried you through, while also keeping the heart intact. Beautiful visuals sold me on it too! Okay, wow, I didn't know that! No wonder the movie is so good! It had a lot of creativity put into it, especially if they were getting the great Marc Okrand to create a new language for the movie. Michael J. Fox sold it for me, to be honest! And the great Leonard Nimoy is always a win!**

 **Have you ever seen Stargate Atlantis or the original Stargate series cause a lot of stuff seemed to be copied from Atlantis the Lost Empire and I looked it up, the Disney movie came out first, at least for the sequel series. It's kinda funny to watch when comparing it to the awesome movie I know and love.**

 **Starco4ever- Thank you!**


	8. For the First Time in Forever (Anna)

For the First Time in Forever (Star is Anna AU)

 **Hey guys I'm back! Thanks for the love and support you all showed in the break, you are all amazing! So sorry I didn't actually manage to get this done in time for Christmas like I tried but I ended up with two other projects I was working on to try and get done in that time and out of all three this one got sadly the least amount done. I am currently sick with a cold so that's really affected my writing speed. But it is here and ready for your viewing pleasure, I hope, haha.**

 **So it is the Frozen one like I promised and the results of the votes were unanimously in favor of Meteora in the place of Elsa. Like wow, point taken! I'm honestly glad I asked because I was leaning more toward Eclipsa but you guys really helped me to come to my senses on this. Meteora does fit this role much better and the main reason I was considering Eclipsa probably had way too much to do with this animatic I saw on Youtube called "Monster" by Art of Rhues. The song is from the Frozen musical and the animatic follows Elipsa as her home is under attack from the MHC as she struggles with giving herself up to save everyone or keep fighting. It is honestly powerful and really well animated, if you have time give it a watch and then the rest of Art of Rhues other works cause they are all great.**

 **Oh and I did see Frozen 2 and loved it! No spoilers but I definitely think it was a worthy sequel to the original, the songs were definitely on par for me. I probably won't do a chapter about it, since I'm avoiding doing sequels... I've got plenty enough to write with as is!**

 **So after all that I will leave you all to read and enjoy! Have fun guys!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters belong to Daron Nefcy and Disney. Frozen belongs to Disney. All rights go to them.**

"Meteora!" Star yelled into the blizzard, her voice quivering as her body shook from the freezing chill. She slowly trudged her way through snow bank after snow bank, while the heavy, numbing wind tried it's best to freeze her in place. Still she pushed her shaking form on, trying to focus on finding her sister, instead of the biting chill that had frozen everything from her toes to her face. "Meteora! Meteora, where are you?!" She screamed, her breath fogged and her breathing labored, every step heavier than the last. She ran her hands up and down her arms trying to create some form of warmth but never with any success. It didn't help that she hadn't changed before foolishly deciding to face the elements on a long trek through the countryside meaning she was still wearing her regular sea green dress, purple and orange leggings, and purple boots, none of which had equipped her for the cold weather, only the thin velvet cape she had been given provided her any sort of warmth, but even it did very little against the freezing wind.

"Ugh, look I'm sorry okay!" Star tried again, quickly losing patience with her sister and her very problematic powers. "I shouldn't have said those things! But you were being difficult!" At her raised tone, another chill jumped down her spine, making her body shake even more. "I mean," she quickly backtracked. "We both made mistakes so maybe please come out so we can talk about this?"

There was no response and Star merely shivered and began muttering under her breath, "Stupid snow. Stupid Meteora. If she had just told me about her powers instead of exploding out of nowhere than none of this would be happening. But noooo she just had to lock herself away and keep secrets from me."  
Star sighed, hurt crossing her face for a second, before she tripped over a branch hidden in the snow and fell flat on her face. She quickly sat up, yelling to the sky, "Ugh why did it have to snow?!"

How had her day turned around like this? Today was supposed to be amazing, today was supposed to be special but not like this, it was supposed to be the best day of her life. Instead it had turned into one of the worst and it was all because of her sister's secret. The blond picked herself back up, her body now covered in snow as she continued through the blizzard, her body shuddering more and more with every step as she thought back over the events that had led her to here.

…

For about as long as Star could remember she had been alone.

Sure for the first several years of her childhood she had had her sister to keep her company and play with. Meteora was always so much fun and she could recall all their good times together like they were yesterday. Even though Star was a few years younger than her, Meteora was always so nice and helpful to her needs, playing with her and being there for her whenever she needed her and Star cherished those memories more than anything. She could still remember waking her sister up in the middle of the nigh to drag her outside and build a snowman for no reason other than she wanted to and her sister willingly complying, smiling and giggling along with her as they stayed up into the late hours of the night.

Until one day, Meteora locked herself in her room and never came out. At first, Star thought she was just sick and after a week of waiting for her to get better and asking her parents as many questions about what was wrong with her as possible (only to ever receive a vague answer), she realized that her sister wasn't ill, she just didn't to leave her room for some reason.

That was when Star had changed tactics and had began a daily ritual of knocking on her door and begging her to come outside and play with her, listing every activity she could think of to get her to agree, only to either be ignored or turned away. But Star was not one to quit so easily, she stayed persistent hoping to spark some kind of reaction out of her other than rejection, and as her boredom and loneliness grew, so did her desperation and determination. Still nothing worked and so Star spent most of her days laying around the castle trying to entertain herself and fight the losing battle against her greatest nemesis: boredom.

On top of that, she wasn't even allowed to leave the castle, the gates which once stayed open were now closed and sealed tight. Her mother and father were always busy, the few servants they kept in the castle kept to themselves mostly, and Meteora... well she was just a lost cause.

And it stayed like this for years and years until Star was convinced that this was just the way it was, this was just her life. She stopped knocking on her sister's door, most of the time avoiding her wing of the castle altogether, because as much as she tried not to let it bother her, it hurt every time she knocked and received no answer other than a short, "Go away, Star!"

In fact the very last time she had knocked on her sister's door at all was the day of her parent's funeral.

They had announced that they were leaving on a trip and would be gone for two weeks. Star had been sad to see them go, but was used to being alone by now so it didn't really bug her that much that they wouldn't be there at the castle. She could still remember giving them each a tight hug and saying brightly, "See you in two weeks, guys!"

It was a few nights later when she received the news that her parent's ship had sunk. She had been devastated, her entire world shattering around her as she struggled to cope with the loss of her beloved mom and dad. And in her lowest moment imaginable, feeling empty and broken and so lost she felt a massive weight on her chest that seemed to be pressing down on her making it difficult to breathe, she had gone to the only person she had left: her sister Meteora. She knocked only once, fighting back tears as she begged one last time for her to come out, telling her how much she needed her and how she was there for her and to please not shut her out and just let her in. But when she received no answer Star had just collapsed against the door, crying and weeping, no longer able to hold back the pain and sorrow she felt coming to her in waves. But as she wept she could almost swear she heard soft sobbing from the other side of the door, and there was nothing she could do about it.

A few more years passed until _at last_ Meteora was 18, finally old enough to take the throne. Star (now 15 years old herself) was ecstatic about her sister's coronation day. Cause with that day promised the thing she had been dreaming about for so many years... the gates would open. And with them would come a flood people, not just from town but from their surrounding kingdoms and after the ceremony there would even be a ball to celebrate their new ruler's rise to the throne.

Star had been giddy, telling her favorite paintings (so she talked to pictures on the wall, so what?) all about her plans for the big day. Her imagination ran wild as she envisioned every possible dream scenario she could cook up, most of them ending with her falling in love with a handsome stranger. And as the days ticked by at their ever slow pace, Star's eagerness only grew.

Finally, the day arrived and Star had been up bright and early, energetically bouncing around the castle as the servants rushed to get ready around her. She couldn't keep her enthusiasm contained, especially as she heard the order being called out for the gates to be opened. She had raced outside, waving to the large crowd of guests as they passed, standing on the railing of the bridge leading to the castle and walking along it as she took in every smiling and excited face that passed. The only face she hadn't seen smiling, in fact, was a little man (who she later learned was named Duke Ludo of Weaseltown or something like that) he instead just had a dark and a little unnerving look on his face as he entered into the castle, surrounded by at least three guards.

But Star hadn't taken much stock of the man, her focus and attention on all the new sights and smells the village had to offer as she quickly rushed around, trying to see as much of it all as she could. She had just been running down by the harbor when she had suddenly crashed into the front of a horse, causing her to stumble back and land in an empty rowboat, sitting on the edge of the dock. "Hey, watch where your going you jerk!" Star shouted up at whoever she had just crashed to in annoyance, only to feel her cheeks light up with a blush as she saw a young man with spiky, salmon colored hair and a fancy white suit, climb down off his horse and quickly race over to check on her.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, are you alright?" he asked, offering her a hand up, but as he did the boat tilted, beginning to fall over the edge and he quickly tightened her grip on her hand, yanking her off the boat as it hit the sea below. The blond landed against his chest, before looking up at the pair of gorgeous red eyes he had, lost for words for a second, even as he pushed her away, now holding her at arm's length. "Well that was a real close one," he joked, chuckling awkwardly to try and diffuse the uncomfortable tension that had formed. Star however, was incapable of responding, stumbling around for words that seemed to be lost on her at the moment. She ended up only babbling out incoherent nonsense that caused the boy to raise an eyebrow at her weird behavior. "Uhhh, do you need me to get you a doctor or something, cause your kinda not making any sense?" he hesitantly asked.

Star finally got a hold of herself as she stumbled out, "Oh, n-no-no, I'm fine."

"Well, I-I'm really sorry for running into you back there, I didn't see you," the boy apologized, shooting her a very remorseful look.

"Oh that," Star said, before scoffing and waving a hand in the air, trying to shrug off the whole situation. "Don't worry about it. I've taken way worse. I'm totally good. In fact, I'm better than good, I'm..." she paused to sigh dreamily. "...great even."

The boy merely smiled in return before saying, "Well that's cool to hear, my name is Prince Tom of the Southern Isles." He bowed and Star did a loose curtsey in reply.

"Star Butterfly," she said simply, but Tom quickly gasped.

"The princess?" he exclaimed, before dropping down onto one knee in respect. "Your Majesty, I'm sorry for not recognizing you sooner."

"Oh, no, no, you don't have to do that," Star assured the prince, grabbing his arm and helping him stand. "Just Star is fine. You don't have to be formal around me."

"Okay then, how about I just call you Starship from now on," he said in an almost flirty tone and Star quickly blushed.

"You can call me whatever you want," she said shyly, folding her hand behind her back.

"Great then, I guess I'll see you later at the coronation," the boy said and Star nodded dumbly.

"Yeah, guess you will," she sighed, still lost in his eyes.

"Cool."

"Cool."

And with that, the two had departed, leaving Star in a lovesick daze. The next time she had seen him was at the coronation, though he had looked annoyed from his seat in the front row, since he had two people asleep next to him, using each shoulder as an arm rest and drooling on him the whole time. He seemed about ready to shove them off when Star had caught his eye and a smile had crossed his face as he waved to her, which she returned eagerly.

Meteora had been a bit tense, Star remembered thinking, as she stood next at the front of the large room. A choir was singing their national anthem while the young woman looked liked she might puke at any moment. Star had just chocked it up to anxiety though, after all she did shut herself off from the world, so clearly being around people must make her uncomfortable... even if one of those people was her own sister. She had even noticed her sister's hands shaking as she took the scepter and the small orb (which was always used for the coronation for some reason) into her hands. She had stood still as a statue as the priest went into his whole speech in their native tongue about crowning her and whatnot before the crown was placed on her head and the crowd began clapping and cheering for their new queen. Star wasn't a bit surprised as her sister almost threw the objects back onto their sacred pillow and slipped her gloves back on with a relieved sigh. She did always have this weird thing about dirt.

After that, things continued to go smoothly as the crowd quickly emptied into the ballroom, where a cheerful and pleasant party began. As soon as Star had entered, she had been swept away by a guard who decided it was a great idea to position her right next to her sister and for a minute the two just stood awkwardly next to each other struggling to find something to say. Meteora kept rubbing a hand up and down her arm and didn't even seem to want to look her way, while Star just had her arms wrapped around herself. "Uh hey," she had finally tried, figuring she could at least take the initiative and try and strike up a conversation with her sister. "Sooo, haven't seen you in a while..." Understatement of the year. "You been... good."

Meteora nodded, a small smile dancing on her lips. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said just as awkwardly as Star.

"Well you look good," Star blurted out. "You look like a real queen."

"Yeah I guess so, don't really feel much like it yet," Meteora replied, her body seeming to relax some the more they talked which encouraged Star to move a teensy bit closer.

"Come on, your gonna do a great job at it," Star encouraged her.

"Thanks," her sister replied with a bright grin.

Star looked out at all the other party-goers and sighed in awe, "Woooww this is sooo cool! Can you believe we're at a real party?"

Meteora chuckled slightly and said, "Not really. Though didn't we throw a party way back in the day?"

"Oh yeah," Star said with a grin, the memory resurfacing in her mind, though it felt a bit fuzzy, like she was having trouble holding onto it. That tended to happen a lot though whenever she thought about the old days. "It was for your birthday, right?"

Meteora was now openly laughing, a mischievous glint in her eye as she recalled the incident. "Yeah, and we ended up trashing the entire dining room because you snuck an entire heard of pigs inside."

The two sisters shared a laugh for a moment, Star had felt her spirits rising, as a connection that she had thought had long since severed began to regrow. It felt like real progress toward rekindling their friendship. After all she wasn't running off and slamming the door shut in her face, she was actually talking to her and she felt like they were getting along. Too bad she ended up messing it all up with the very next sentence. "Man I miss those days, it's been forever since we just hung out."

Meteora's smile dropped in an instant, the same guarded look that Star hated seeing on her replacing her pleasant grin. "Well, things are different now, it can't go back to the way things used to be," she said her voice full of emotion that she seemed to be struggling to choke down.

"Why not?" Star asked as innocently as she could but this seemed to push Meteora over the edge as she she turned away from her sister and retorted sharply, "Because I said so."

The blond's eyes filled with tears as she quickly excused herself in a hushed tone, walking through the crowded ballroom as she tried to put as much distance between herself and Meteora as she could. But she had been stopped by Duke Ludo who gave her what she guessed was supposed to be a smooth smile. "Milady, would you do me the honor of sharing your first dance with me?" He bowed low in front of her and Star quickly wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand as she declined him softly, "Um, no thank you, I-I can't-"

"Well why not?" Ludo insisted, looking annoyed at her refusal.

Before Star could open her mouth to try and come up with an excuse, she felt a hand land on her side and a presence appear behind her. "Because she promised her first dance to me," Tom's voice spoke up and Star looked over her shoulder at him with surprise. He winked at her, which made her whole face blush, but she did smile back.

She turned back around to face Ludo and, playing along, shrugged and told him, "Sorry, but a promise is a promise."

Ludo just grumbled something under his breath and stormed away, rejected. The moment he was out of earshot, Star sighed before giving Tom a deeply grateful smile. "Thanks, I didn't know what I was gonna do about him."

"Don't mention it," Tom said, grabbing her arm and twirling her around to face him. "Just give me that dance you owe me and we'll call it even."

Star giggled, but complied, saying teasingly, "Well if I must." She placed a hand on his shoulder and the other locked with his own as they moved smoothly across the dance floor. "Gotta say that was pretty noble of you Tom, coming to my rescue like that."

"Well that is what us princes do," he said smoothly.

Star leaned in a little closer as she asked, "You mostly did it just to annoy that Ludo guy though, didn't you?"

Tom smiled mischievously over at the small man, watching them with a death glare, before admitting, "It didn't hurt anything."

Star laughed as the two moved in perfect sync around the ballroom.

Star and Tom pretty much hit it off after that, escaping from the hustle and bustle of the party and moving onto a quiet balcony to talk. And that's exactly what the two did, chatting and sharing their past life experiences with each other. He was quick to ask the question that almost everyone had which was about the pure white streak she had in her hair and Star was quick to explain to him that she had been born with it and that it was really no big deal. She never got why so many people focused on that, she didn't think it was really that weird.

Soon the hours began to fly by as they talked more and more and Star found out that Tom was surprisingly relatable. He too had had some bad experiences with his siblings in the past and considering he had 13 of them, boy did he have some stories to share. Eventually the two grew tired of talking and so they instead started sneaking into restricted areas of the castle and running from the guards just for the heck of it and Star found herself having a blast with the boy. Probably the most fun she had had in years.

Which why when he had caught her off guard as the two sat on the roof of the castle, just staring up at the stars, and he suddenly asked, "Okay am I crazy or do we just seem right for each other?" her instant reply had been, "Heck yeah we do." She sighed leaning her head against his shoulder making him blush, "This has been one of the best nights of my life. I wish it would never end."

Tom paused for a moment, looking deep in thought, while Star just enjoyed cuddling against the handsome prince. "What if... it didn't have to?" he finally said and Star instantly sat up, staring at him wide-eyed.

"Huh? Wh-What do you mean?" she asked, giving him a confused but hopeful look. She was desperate, she didn't want to be alone anymore, this night had only proved to her how starved she was for human affection of any kind and she wasn't really sure she _could_ go back now that she had had a taste of what her life could be like. If Tom was offering her a solution then she would take it, whatever it was.

"Well, and this is probably a pretty insane idea," he began hesitantly, rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly. "But it wouldn't have to end if... we got married."

Star was stunned, her body freezing up and refusing to move as she just stared at him blankly, her mind incapable of coming up with a reply. Tom watched her reaction closely and cringed, believing he had just made a huge mistake. "Oh man, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"YES!" Star screamed a second later, tackling him with a tight hug that nearly caused them both to slip off and plummet to their death, but luckily Tom was able to hold them steady for a moment.

"You mean it, you really want to," Tom said in surprise.

"Yes, yes, a thousand times yes," Star squealed with delight. "Let's do it, let's get married! Oh my gosh this is gonna be so great!"

"You can't get married." That was the first thing Meteora had said when Star and Tom had gone to her asking for her blessing, giving them a deadpanned stare and speaking in a firm, no nonsense voice that left no room for arguments.

Still Star felt her whole world crumbling at this declaration as she said in shock, "What, why not?"

"Oh I don't know maybe because you know literally just met him today and know nothing about him," Meteora hissed back, looking beyond annoyed at her sister's actions.

"I know more about him than I do you!" Star argued, her tone beginning to raise some. Meteora's face seemed to soften for a second, a hurt look appearing on her face, before she hardened it with the rest of her features.

"Well that may be but I am still your queen and you still have to do as I say," Meteora said sharply, struggling to keep her anger down and in check.

"Not if your rule makes no sense, admit it you just want to take away my one chance at happiness because you want me to be miserable like you!" Star shouted, her frustration reaching an all-time high.

"Um, so should I go and let you two work this out or-" Tom asked awkwardly, starting to slowly inch away from the two sister's quarrel but Star latched an arm onto him and pulled him back to her side.

"No way, you are my future husband, anything she wants to say to me she can say to you too," Star said stubbornly.

"Greeaaattt," Tom slowly said, trying to keep a supportive smile on his lips despite the intense discomfort he was feeling.

"He is not your future husband because you aren't getting married to him!" Meteora shouted.

"Yes I am!"

"No, Star you aren't." And with that Meteora turned her back on her sister saying to one of the guards. "The party is over, close the gates."

"What, no?!" Star screamed in terror as she watched her sister walking away. No, no this couldn't be happening. This was supposed to be her happily ever after, but her sister was about to take that away from her. She couldn't let this happen. She had to stop this, she couldn't take another year alone.

And so without thinking, Star lunged forward, ripping one of the gloves from Meteora's hand, her older sister turning around to stare at her with a look ranging from shock to terror. "Give me back my glove," Meteora said desperately and Star felt her stomach twist with guilt. But she wasn't backing down yet, she had her attention again, she needed to use this.

"No, not until you listen to me," Star argued quickly, hiding the glove behind her back even as her sister tried to lunge forward to snatch it back. At the point they had attracted an audience but Star didn't care, she was going to say her piece and nothing was going to stop her. "You have treated me like this my whole life and I want to know why? Why do you always shove me aside? Why do you lock me out and never listen to me? Don't you see how miserable I am here? Why are you trying to take away the one good thing that I have had in years?"

Her sister was shaking her head, growling under her breath and Star didn't even notice the temperature around them dropping, all she saw was the her sister looked close to snapping and still she pushed her more. She wanted to get a reaction out of her, she had to know the reason why... no matter what. "Why Meteora?! Why can't you just let me be happy for once?!" Star yelled at the top of her lungs, tears starting to surface in her eyes.

"If you aren't happy, then why don't you just... _leave_!" Meteora screamed, throwing her arm out. But a cold force followed this action, a biting wind knocked Star and several others down as thick shards of ice appeared around the young queen's body. She took a step back, her eyes wide with a level of fear Star had never seen on any human being in her life, but the blond was too dazed by what she was seeing to say anything, her body frozen as a collective gasp fell through the audience. Star took a quick look around at the other members of the crowd, everyone looking at their ruler with shock and horror, Tom was stunned into silence as well, his eyes darting from the ice to Meteora and then over to Star as if silently asking her if she knew what was going on.

But then there was a shout from the crowd as Duke Ludo suddenly yelled, "Magic! She has dark magic! She's a monster!" He stabbed an accusing finger in the queen's direction and she stumbled back even more, her breathing erratic and her eyes jumping around the room in terror.

"I-I, no! No it's not like that!" Meteora panickingly cried. "I'm not a monster, I'm not!" But then for a brief instant she locked eyes with Star and the blond was able to read her expression for the first ever and what she saw was guilt, fear, and loneliness, so much packed into one short exchange that it took Star's breath away.

Meteora seemed to panic even more as she spotted Star, saying under her breath with tear-streaked eyes, "I'm sorry." She then turned on her heels and throwing the doors open, ran from the castle, from the judging eyes... from Star. Somehow, Star got control of her limbs back as she hopped to her feet and chased after her sister, shouting after her, "Meteora wait! Stop! Come back!"

But her sister didn't listen as she raced through the courtyard, freezing everything she came across, causing the crowd of people to scream in terror and cower from her, which only seemed to make the place grow colder. Star panted as she tried to keep up with her sister but it was hard to do as the ground beneath her turned to ice, making her slip and slide across the courtyard, while Meteora seemed to have no trouble running.

Eventually Meteora reached the fjord, Star a short ways behind her, still begging and pleading with her to come back so they could talk it out. But her older sister no longer seemed to feel like listening as she gave one last glance back, Star once again seeing the fear and decision in Meteora's eyes, before she took a step forward into the water which froze on contact with her foot. The blond gave one last burst of speed in hopes of reaching her sister in time, but then Meteora took off in a run across the lake, the water being incased in a layer of ice as she did. Star was so paralyzed in shock by this her foot accidentally slipped, sending her crashing to the ground.

From there, the blond could only watch helplessly as her sister cleared the distance of the lake in less than a minute, before running into the treeline across the shore, disappearing from Star's sight and life for what the girl feared might be forever. For a moment, all she could do was stare ahead blankly, shivering as the temperature seemed to drop more and more around her. She felt lost and alone and it was everything she could do to keep the tears out of her eyes. But then she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, pulling her back to reality and comforting her and she turned to see Tom staring down at her, concern pinching his eyebrows. "You okay?" he asked, slowly helping her to her feet, but all the blond could do was nod numbly.

He began to lead her back toward the castle, his arms resting around her, trying to provide her heat she was sorely deprived of right now. The two walked in silence for a moment, before the young prince asked, "D-Did you know?"

"No," Star replied, her voice cracking as the true weight of that word hit her. She hadn't known her own sister was magic. How could she not know that? How could Meteora have never told her? She suddenly understood why her sister had been guarded and closed off all those years, she wasn't trying to push Star away, she was trying to keep her from learning the truth. But why? Why had she kept it from her for so long? Did her own sister really not trust her enough to tell her such a huge secret?

The next several minutes passed by in a haze for Star, unable to get the image of Meteora's frightened face out of her head, while Tom tried to settle down the crowd, who were almost in a panic over the dropping temperature and the now frozen lake that surrounded their home. And Ludo was not helping the situation as he began freaking out the most out of everyone, screaming his head off about how they were all going to die and that the monster who did this needed to be stopped. Finally, Tom decided to take matters into his own hands, stepping over to him with a firm look, and snapped out, "Hey would you knock that off! You're making things worse!"

Ludo opened his mouth to respond only to spot Star next to him and he quickly screamed out, "Ahh, get her away from me! She probably has black magic just like her sister."

"No I don't, I'm completely normal," the girl said, hands on her hips.

"Oh yeah, well how do we know for sure you aren't a monster like your sister?" Ludo asked, with a suspicious glare on his face.

Star felt an anger bubble up in her chest, unable to keep herself from shouting, "Stop calling her that! My sister is not a monster!"

The small man hid behind the safety of his guards at the girl's raised tone, before saying, "Oh yeah, than how do you explain her almost killing me back there?"

Tom rolled his eyes. "You slipped on some ice," he snapped, shooting him a doubting look.

"Yeah, well I still could have been seriously injured," Ludo grumbled in annoyance, before whining out, "I think I got a concussion and it really hurts!"

"Oh brother," Tom mumbled under his breath, resiting the urge to roll his eyes again.

"I think we should send a search party out there to hunt that traitor down and dispose of her!" Ludo suggested.

Star let out a loud huff, before declaring loudly, "No one is going to hurt Meteora! Look, I know things look bad but this wasn't her fault. It's-It's mine." The girl hung her head guiltily at this. "She never would have lashed out like that if I hadn't provoked her."

Tom put a hand on the girl's shoulder, saying, "Star, you didn't know."

"No, but I'm still the one who made her mad," the blond royal said, shaking her head once. She took in a deep breath before adding in a confident tone, "So, I'm the one who's going after her."

"What?!" both Tom and Ludo said as one, with varying levels of concern and surprise. "Star, you don't have to do that," the prince added.

"Would you rather I send Mr. Paranoid over there," the blond said, pointing a finger over to Ludo.

"Hey!" the small duke shouted.

"Good point," Tom grumbled in annoyance, before his face softened, looking deep into her eyes as he asked, "But are you sure you're up for this, I mean it could be really dangerous."

"It may be," Star agreed, but the determination and resolve in her face and tone never wavered once. "But I still have to try. I'm the only one who Meteora's gonna listen to, if I find her I can convince her to undo her magic."

Tom didn't look convinced but he didn't voice any doubts he seemed to be having about Star's sister. Instead, he only sighed and asked softly, "And you're sure there's no way I can talk you out of staying?"

Star shook her head, grabbing the cape offered to her by one of the servants and hastily throwing it on. She took in a deep breath before saying firmly, "No. I need to clean up my mess, Tom, and..." Star's brain momentarily flashed to that look of fear in her sister's eyes and she held back a shudder. "... and I need to talk to Meteora again, finally figure out why she's been keeping secrets from me all these years."

Tom nodded in understanding, giving her a comforting smile before he declared brightly, "Then I'm coming with you!"

"No," Star said, gripping his hands tightly between her own. "I need you here, looking after the kingdom while I'm gone. Someone needs to be here to keep everyone from freaking out and causing a riot." Both teens gaze slowly shifted to Ludo, who crossed his arms defensively in front of his chest. "What?!" he snapped out.

Tom let out an annoyed sigh, before grumbling childishly, "Okay, fine. I'll stay."

Star smiled at her finance, saying sweetly, "Thanks Tom. I knew I could count on you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I know you're right and all but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it," he grumbled out, refusing to meet her eyes for a moment, as he pouted.

"I'll be back soon," the blond said, giving his hands one final squeeze before letting go and raising her voice enough so that everyone could hear her. "While I'm gone I'm leaving Prince Tom in charge. Everyone try and stay warm and dry until I get back with the queen."

With that she took a deep breath and started on her journey, only to be pulled back by Tom who said in a scolding tone, "Okay well if you're going, then at least take my horse." One of his servants handed him the reigns which he then passed to Star. The girl gave him an eager grin, before climbing up onto the horse, saying, "Thank Tom, this'll make it much easier."

"Hey, be safe, okay?" the boy asked, giving her another concerned look.

Star gave him a soothing smile, reassuring him, "I'll be fine. She's my sister, she's not gonna hurt me."

"I hope you're right," came Tom's anxious reply and the air around the two grew uncomfortable for a moment as they both tried not to think of the damage Meteora had already done.

But Star swallowed this doubt, shouting triumphantly, "Okay then, let's get going boy!" A few seconds passed of the girl just grinning confidently, while nothing happened, until finally the girl glared down at the horse. "Come on, boy! Move! I don't have all day!"

"Star?" came Tom's skeptical voice and the blond gave him a sheepish look. "Do you... know how to ride a horse?"

Star scoffed, saying with a slight chuckle, "How hard could it be?"

Tom and his horse, Hampton, shared a look, before the prince said, "Okay, well first of all, you gotta flick the reigns to make him move."

"Ohhhh, got it," the girl said and raised her hands to do just that.

"Wait, wait," Tom said, putting a hand over hers to keep her from moving just yet. "If you're gonna go out there at least let me at tell you the basics." The young prince cleared his throat before giving her the basic rundown of the rules he knew but Star soon grew bored and her eyes glazed over, leaning against the horse with a tired expression as she tuned out his lecture. "And if you do all that you probably won't die. Got all that, Star?" Tom asked once he was done and the girl only cast him a small sideways glance.

"Hmm, oh yeah," she said distantly and Tom let out long sigh, knowing she in fact, hadn't heard anything he had said for the last several minutes. He quickly cast Hampton a dangerous look, knowing how wild and hard he could be to control sometimes, before hissing in a warning tone, "If anything bad happens to her, I'm blaming you." Star overheard this, but decided to ignore it in favor of actually getting somewhere...that day.

Finally, Star had lost all patience as she quickly told her finance, "Okay thanks for the tips, Tom!" before flicking the reigns down with all her might, shouting, "Okay boy, onward to Meteora!" Hampton reared up on his back legs, letting out a loud ninny before trotting forward, several people having to dodge out of the way to avoid being trampled, as the horse and its rider galloped out of the castle and into the unknown world that awaited them, Star confident that she and her sister would be back within the day.

But that confidence had been short-lived, as Meteora seemed to have just vanished into thin air, the only sign left of her being the snowdrifts and intense wind that Hampton fought his way through. Star regularly called out for her sister, hoping she would hear her and come back, but either she had gotten way ahead of her somehow or she was ignoring her and neither was a particularly great option in Star's opinion. And things had only gotten worse from there, as a loud noised spooked Hampton, making him rear back and Star slipped from his saddle, landing harshly in the snow. "Hey!" she screamed in annoyance. But Tom's horse paid her no mind, turning and galloping away at full speed, happy to finally be fear to explore the wilds once more. "Come back here!" the blond shouted, already beginning to shake in the cold, the snow that had caught her landing now trying to turn her bloodstream to ice. "You can't just leave me here!"

She let out a loud huff of annoyance, before pressing onward, quitting no longer an option for her now.

…

Which led back to her current predicament, wandering around lost in a blizzard, miserable and freezing cold with only a small, _very thin_ jacket providing her any form of warmth. To say she was in low spirits at this point was an understatement, any semblance of hope was being diminished with every passing second, as if the biting wind was forcefully ripping it away from her to be devoured. The girl's body was beginning to grow numb and every step was more and more difficult to make, her labored breath coming out in short, foggy gasps. She tried to will herself forward, as she forced her frozen limbs to continuing trudging ahead though the waist-deep snow.

But the truth of her dire situation was starting to catch up with her, filling her with numb indifference, if she didn't find some heat soon she wasn't going to make it. "G-Great, dying in a b-blizzard," she growled under her breath, felling her withering hope continuing to drain from her sore and shivering body. "Just yet a-another thing to add to my list of t-terrible t-things that have happened to m-me today." She let out a frustrated huff, ignoring the chattering in her teeth (which grew worse with every struggled sentence) as she continued to rant to herself, "S-She just had to h-have s-s-secret ice powers, d-didn't she? S-She couldn't have been b-blessed with something more practical l-like, oh I don't k-know maybe like powers that don't end up f-freezing over our entire kingdom! Like magic that makes s-sandy beaches or cute little n-narwhals or sh-shoot rainbows into the sky. Now those would have been a g-good p-power to have, literally anything would be b-b-better than this." She let out a long sigh, before asking the universe, "C-Could today g-get any w-worse?"

Barely a second passed, before she got her answer, as she heard a loud _crack_ below her and she looked down to see that she had unknowingly been standing on a large patch of ice, which apparently was not holding up under her weight, jagged incisions slicing their way through the thin layer of ice beneath her shaking feet. Realizing the ground beneath her was literally about to break, she just stared forward blankly, letting out a very annoyed, "Great," before she was submerged in the freezing cold water.

Star's body instantly went numb (what wasn't already) the moment she fell beneath the waves and she nearly gasped as the further drop in temperature took her breath away. She tried to will her arms and legs into motion, hoping she could swim back toward the surface, but for some odd reason she couldn't, her limbs had become dead weight, refusing to move an inch as the dreadful cold filled her very being, a feeling of familiarity accompanying it, leaving her stunned and confused, since she was fairly sure she had never experienced anything like this before. The fight left her quickly, as a sudden overwhelming exhaustion took hold, willing her to close her eyes and just give in. So she obeyed, feeling her body slowly sinking downward, hoping to find a release from all this cold in the safety of her dreams. _Maybe..._ her tired mind thought, as everything began fading to black. _Things will be better when I wake up._

Just before the inky blackness could consume her, she felt something wrap around her abdomen. And to her shock, whatever it was felt...warm. She reveled in the feeling it brought her, nearly snapping her awake right there as her entire being fought to reach out and grab as much of this heat and warmth up as she could. But her limbs remained heavy, lifeless bricks and so all she could do was wait, as she felt herself being slowly lifted back up toward the surface, her body losing the fight to stay away as she fell into unconsciousness, the last thought in her sluggish mind before she was swallowed up by the black being her wonderment over what exactly it was that was holding onto her that could make her feel so... safe.

…

Star came back to consciousness slowly, fighting past the fog that consumed her mind, as she came back into awareness. The first thing she noticed was that she felt oddly warm, which was a huge surprise since the last thing she remembered was wandering around lost in a blizzard, slowly freezing to death. Wait, was she dead? Was this heaven? It felt kinda like it, since her body felt safe and comfortable in whatever place she had ended up. Which begged the question, where was she anyway? What had happened to her out there?

As she pondered these questions, letting them turn over and over again in her mind as she tried to recall the last thing that happened to her, she picked up muted voices talking nearby. This also came as a surprise and she strained to try and hear them, hoping they would provide her with answers, but it took a few moments before the fog cleared up enough for her to process what they were saying.

"So what you just found her like this, wondering around in some snowstorm?" a voice asked.

"Yeah pretty much, she fell into some ice, I had to pull her out before she could drown," a different voice said.

"Geez, she'd have to be crazier than you Marco, to be out in this weather," the first said, sarcastically.

Star heard a low growl, which she identified as coming from the second voice, who seemed very displeased with his friend's comment. "Yeah well, it's a good thing I was, otherwise she might have died out there," he added, with just the slightest hint of annoyance.

"So what do you think she's doing out here?" a third voice spoke up, sounding more nasally than the other two.

"The bigger question is, how much do you think she's gonna pay us?" the first voice said, matter-of-factly.

"Ferguson!" the second one snapped.

"What? I mean you have eyes, we know who she is," the first piped up defensively. "I'll bet she'll pay us all handsomely for saving her life when she comes to."

"Is that really all you can think about right now... money?" the second voice scolded.

"Hey I'm a businessman, what can I say."

"Your terrible, Ferguson," the third said, bitterly.

"Hey you were thinking it too, Al, and you know it!"

Star tried to peek open her eyes to better understand the situation, only to hiss in pain as a bright light instantly attacked her pupils and she rolled over with a groan.

"Hey, I think she's waking up," the first voice said, while the other two gasped.

Star tried once again to force her heavy eyelids open, this time succedding since the light was not nearly as intense as before and she blinked a few times as she took in her surroundings. She was in some small shop it seemed, the place cozy and quaint, filled with cute little trinkets of all shapes and types. The room was lit in a soft glow coming from the roaring fireplace, which Star had been placed next to, her body covered in soft furs and coats that had been piled on top of her for extra heat. The blond looked over at the three boys who were watching her with various levels of worry and skepticism. Two of them were standing behind a counter top, one lanky, one thin, while the third leaned against it, watching her closely and something about him made Star pause and observe him closer.

He looked about her age and height, though some of his features were hard to make out since his body was covered with snow and frost. He had brown hair and quizzical brown eyes, which seemed to be searching her for something, making her cheeks heat up with a blush. His eyebrows were pinched together in worry and the concerned frown on his face showed kindness Star could see creeping behind those chocolate orbs. He was wearing a thick red coat and matching pants with black boots that had a cute looking point on the end and black gloves. He had on a black hat and a brown bandana which currently hung loosely around his neck. The blond thought she spotted a little mole under his left eye but it was hard to tell with the snow on his face. Speaking of which, from the amount of snow that coated him Star would have thought he had just scaled an entire mountain by himself, twice, and his entire face was still slightly pink from the chill outside. He was also soaking wet, his clothes clinging to him at odd angles and his spiky hair, lying flat beneath his hat. If she had to take a guess she would say he was the one who had saved her.

For a moment the two just stared each other down, never once breaking eye contact as they seemed to be summing each other up silently, the only sound coming from the crackling fire and the muted roar of the blizzard outside. Finally, the boy cleared his throat and asked, "Are you okay?"

Star nodded, ignoring the slight dizziness that followed the motion. "Yeah, I'm fine." She did another quick survey of the shop as she asked, "Where am I anyways?"

"Oh where are my manners?" the chubby one quickly exclaimed. "Welcome to Ferguson's-"

"-And Alfonso's-" the skinny teen added, before they both finished as one, "-Outlet Shop! Where all your needs are found!"

"That's still a terrible tagline," the other boy added and his friends scowled at him.

"Shut it, Marco," Ferguson grumbled.

"How did I get here?" Star asked, rubbing her head, still a bit fuzzy on the details.

"I brought you here," the brown-haired boy who was apparently called Marco, clarified. He blushed slightly as he added hesitantly, "After I saved you from the ice, that is."

"Oh that was you!" Star exclaimed in surprise, the memory finally flooding back to her.

"Uhhh, yeah," the boy said shyly, tenderly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Tell her how you had to give her mouth to mouth to keep her from drowning, Marco?" Ferguson coyly suggested and the boy in question shot his chubby friend a death glare.

Star froze up in shock, a hand slowly rising to her lips and her cheeks heating up in a blush. Had this total stranger really kissed her to save her life?

Marco seeing the startled look on the girl's face, quickly exclaimed, "I-I didn't have to do that, I swear! You were still breathing just... _really_ cold."

Star breathed a sigh of relief, feeling her cheeks return to their normal temperature, though strangely enough it felt a bit forced coming from her lips. Okay that was weird, she should totally be relieved since she was engaged and all. But she pushed these thoughts aside as she gave her savior a grateful smile, pushing off the pile of blankets as she said brightly, "Well thank you so much! Without you I'd probably be a princess popsicle by now!"

The boy returned the grin, saying, "No problem, I've actually run into those situations once or twice myself."

"Oh yeah like the time you got your feet frozen in that block of ice," Alfonso pitched in, he and Ferguson laughing at the memory.

"Oh yeah, I remember that," Marco said, before chuckling himself and soon Star was too, finding their hearty, cheerful laughter contagious even if she didn't quite understand what it was about.

But suddenly, Marco stopped, his eyes widening as he whispered in an intense tone, "Sometimes in my nightmares, I can still feel the cold emptiness trying to consume my soul."

The three all gave Marco bizarre, frightened looks, Star even muttering out in confusion, "What?" The boy's face returned to normal in a flash, the bright smile lighting up his face once more as if nothing had even happened. "Not important."

"Uhhh, riggght," Star hesitantly replied, not sure what else to say, what did you say to a person after they tell you something like that? "Um, I'm Star by the way," she finally said, offering him her hand.

He eagerly took it, shaking it softly, as he said politely, "Yeah, I know who you are, Your Highness. It's an honor to meet you."

"Can you please just call me Star," she groaned, practically begging the boy. "I hate people being so formal with me."

"Right of course," the boy said with a small nod. "My names Marco Diaz."

"Well thanks Marco, for the save back there. I owe you one," she said, still not breaking hand or eye contact, trying to ignore how her hand tingled in his touch or how deep, vast, and beautiful his eyes were, or the now rapid beating in her heart as she tried to get a hold of herself. What was she thinking, he was still just a total stranger, how come being around him felt so... right? This was a totally different feeling than she had even had with Tom.

"Well, you know, you could always pay us for our services," Ferguson pitched in, breaking Star out of her confusing thoughts, as she watched Alfonso roughly elbow him in the arm with a scowling glare.

"Ignore him," Marco said, rolling his eyes while shooting his friend's a scolding look. "So, what are you doing out here in the middle of a snowstorm, Star? Seems kinda unsafe to be out and about right now," the boy asked.

 _Kinda like you were_ , Star thought but didn't voice this out loud, as she simply answered, "Actually, I'm out here looking for-"

"The best deals, this side of Mewni has to offer!" Ferguson suddenly exclaimed a wide smile on his face, as all eyes fell on him once again.

"Oh no," Marco groaned, face-palming. He felt bad for the blond royal who was fixing to have to endure one of Ferguson's business pitches. There was no way to stop him now either, once he got that look on his face no power on this Earth could make him quit until he was done. Or somebody bought something. Or both.

"Uhhh," Star began in confusion, shooting Marco a helpless look who only shrugged, silently relaying her to just ' _go with it'_.

"Maybe you would be interested in purchasing something from our big summer blowout?!" the eager Ferguson continued, holding up a container of sunscreen for Star to see.

The blond shook her head, raising a hand in a polite gesture as she tried, "Um, no thank you. I was more wondering if any of you have seen my-"

"Or maybe you'd like to see something from our rare collection of bear statues, oooohhh!" Ferguson interrupted again, holding one of the miniature statues out for her to see. Star looked over it quickly before asking, "Um, why does it have a horn on the top of its head?"

Ferguson brought it back up to his own face, before saying with an unceasing smile, "Oh my mistake." Then he turned over his shoulder, asking his colleague in a harsh tone that made both Star and Marco jump, "Hey Alfonso! What did I say about giving me defective statues?!"

"Oh no, that's okay, really," Star said, waving a hand in the air to try and get him to stop, hoping not to make a big deal out of it and get out of this as quickly as possible. But that hope was dashed as is it seemed Ferguson was insistent on correcting this "mistake".

"It's not defective," Alfonso argued, adjusting the glasses on his face with a knowing look. "I'm telling you, I saw one of those bearicorns out in the woods."

"Stop trying to push your crackpot theories onto our customers!" Ferguson shouted in a scolding tone.

"But it's true!"

"Um, guys, y'know its fine," Star said, trying to gain the attention back on her but to no avail.

"Yeah right, oh and also this whole blizzard is being caused by an angry spirit right?" Ferguson said mockingly, rolling his eyes.

 _Wellll_ , Star thought in her head. _Not quite. Just one overemotional teenager._

"I'm telling you, this blizzard isn't normal, it's magic!" Al screamed from the other room.

"No, it's not!" Ferg shouted back. "Geez, you just believe whatever you hear, don't you?"

"Um, excuse me, could you please just give me some informa-"

"Well maybe you should be more open minded!"

"And maybe you should stop reading too much into everything you hear!"

Star quickly losing patience as the fight seemed to be nearing no end anytime soon, slammed her hands down on the counter top and shouted, "Guys, could someone please just tell me if you've seen my sister!"

The three boys froze in shock, before Marco spoke up, asking in concern, "Your sister? You mean the queen?"

"Yeah," Star said in depression. She took a deep breath before quickly blurting out the whole story, "See turns out my sister has ice magic which I never knew about and she got upset after we had an argument and she ended up freezing the entire kingdom in ice before running off to who knows where. And now I have to find her before the everyone in the kingdom dies of frostbite or whatever, but I have no clue where she went!"

The girl took a few deep breaths trying to regain her air flow, while looking between each of the shocked faces around her, all three boys staring at her wide-eyed, Marco softly mumbling, "Wow, I did not... expect that."

An awkward silence filled the room for a moment, until Alfonso shattered the uncomfortable tension, as he gave his chubby friend a superior look, shouting, "Ha, told you!"

"Not now, Al!" Ferguson snapped in a scolding tone.

"Well, good luck with that, Star," Marco said, giving her a kind smile. "I'm sure you'll work it out, somehow."

"Yeah, I hope so," the girl whispered under her breath, looking unsure.

The boy paused before saying, "Um, hey if it makes you feel better, I think I know which way she went."

"You do?!" Star screamed, her eyes shining with intrigue and her smile incapable of growing any wider as she grabbed the boy tightly by the front of his jacket, leaning in close till their faces were practically touching.

The boy's cheeks instantly turned red at the close contact. He wasn't really used to being this near girls, or anyone really, and he began to feel sweat dripping down his face as he did his best to keep his cool. But he couldn't stop from stuttering out his reply, somehow managing to keep his voice from cracking, "Uh yeah, I think she went up the north mountain, the storm seems to be coming from that direction, so you might want to look there."

"Awww, thank you so much!" Star squealed, surprising the boy with a hug, his body going stiff and tense as she did, but the blond didn't notice as she quickly ran for the door. "Now I can finally find Meteora and bring her home!" she proclaimed, throwing the door open as freezing cold air hit her full force, blowing her hair back as sharp wind cut into her under-dressed form. A shudder ran through her, before she slammed the door shut with an annoyed groan. She leaned back against the wooden frame, her arms crossed huffily in front of her chest as she muttered, "Oh right, the blizzard."

"Well if you are in need of some supplies, I do happen to have some clothes for you to wear out there," Ferguson suddenly pitched in, drawing both Star and Marco's attention onto him as he pulled out some soft, thick fabric and fancy black boots from behind the counter. He set them down on the tabletop, wagging his eyebrows at the girl as he said, "And since you need them so badly I'm even willing to go down on price some, just for you."

"Wow, thanks!" Star exclaimed, racing over to examine them closely. "They're just what I needed!"

"I thought you would say that," Ferguson said, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips. Marco frowned at the trader, a suspicious eyebrow raising as he began to suspect foul play was being used against the naïve princess. "Which is why I'm giving them to you for the low, low price of $300."

Star gasped, saying in wonder, "That is low."

Marco just face-palmed as the girl reached into her purse and began to pull out a wad of cash. But Marco couldn't stand to see the blond conned so easily as he leaned over and placed a hand on hers, stopping her from pulling out the cash. The blond gave him a confused expression, but he ignored the stunning blue staring at him as he said, "Wait, wait, wait. You can't charge her for that. That's way overpriced."

"It is?" the girl gasped, her eyes shining with so much innocence that it made Marco's heart leap into his throat and he struggled to swallow down the lump.

"Come on, Marco," Ferguson said in a low tone, his eyes begging. "She's rich, she can afford it and it would _reallly_ help the business out."

"I don't care," the boy said firmly, his hand unknowingly squeezing over Star's own, making the princess's face turn bright red. "We're all in hard times right now, but trying to manipulate people isn't the way to go about it."

"Ugh, fine," Ferguson groaned, grumpily crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Will that be all?"

Star opened his mouth to answer but Marco quickly cut in, saying, "Well actually if she's going to go up there, she's gonna need some more supplies. Some rope, a grappling hook, fresh drinking water. Maybe some matches so she can light a fire, oh and a first aid kit, those are always handy to have-"

The blond watched the boy mystified as he listed off the long list of supplies that Star herself hadn't even thought to bring. She had been ready to climb up the mountain without thinking but this boy seemed intent on making sure she was well prepared for such a journey. "Wow, Marco you really know your stuff," Star commented, impressed with his superior knowledge.

The boy blushed slightly as he said shyly, "Yeah, well I've been climbing mountains since I was a kid. I'm an ice trader after all." His voice got very soft at the end as if he was almost ashamed to admit to her what his job was.

"Oh wow, really," Star blurted out without thinking and the boy flinched at her negative tone. Star felt a guilty wave wash over her, as she scrambled to correct her mistake, stammering, "N-no, no, no! I mean that's fine, I just- y'know, after what my sister did you're probably not- you just- I-" she sucked in a deep breath, steeling her nerves as she tried again, this time sounding much more sure of herself, "I'm sorry. I'm the reason Meteora did all of this. And now you're job is in danger because of me."

"Mine isn't doing too hot right now, either," Ferguson pointed out, but Alfonso just elbowed him once in the arm, whispering quietly, "Shh, let them have this."

Star studied the boy's face for a moment, as he gave her a confused look, unsure how to react to the girl's confession and her heart went out to him. He had already done so much for her and she felt a deep gratitude to him, saving her from the ice, giving her directions, keeping her from stupidly spending too much on some clothes. He seemed so nice and trustworthy and Star hated the idea of him suffering because of her stupid mistake. She wanted to help him and she felt a deep resolve tighten in her chest as she said confidently, "I promise I'm gonna fix this. I'm gonna bring back summer, no matter what it takes."

Marcos' gaze softened as a smile lit up his face. "Thank, Star," he said, his voice cracking some against his will and she could tell by the uncertainty in his eyes that he wasn't used to using this word all too often. But he gave her a questioning frown as he asked, "But, uh, sorry if this seems rude but do you even know how to climb a mountain?"

Star scoffed, saying for the second time that day, "How hard could it be?"

The ice trader cringed, worry flooding his features as he said softly, "Pretty hard."

"Oh, I'm sure I'll get the hang of it," she said, simply, keeping a wide smile on her face.

"Um, right," the boy said, giving her a forced smile, the concern never leaving his eyes.

Star didn't seem to notice this though, as she set the cash down on the counter, saying, "So I guess I'll just go get changed and I'll be on my way," She scooped up her purchased supplies, heading for the small changing room at the back of the shop, the three boys watching her go. The moment she was out of earshot Alfonso quickly said, "So she's gonna die, right?"

"Hey, you heard her, there's no stopping her now," the chubby teen pointed out. "Besides she might be able to pull it off."

"Did you forget Marco brought her in here half-frozen, she clearly had no idea what she's doing?" Alfonso argued.

"Well it's not our place to tell her she can't."

As the boy continued their argument, Marco just listened quietly, his eyes never leaving the wooden door Star had disappeared behind. He couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that he needed to go with her. She clearly needed the help, her inexperience in almost every area imaginable as clear as day and her confidence and head-strong nature was only going to get her into trouble. There were an unspeakable number of dangers that she would have to overcome in order to complete such a trip and the idea of her having face all of these alone made Marco sick to his stomach.

Especially after she had seemed so genuinely concerned for him, promising to secure his job for him and that was something he really hadn't expected. Most people didn't even notice him and they certainly didn't offer to help him or compliment him, even his two friends Ferg and Al, only paid him any mind because he helped deliver them a steady string of ice to trade.

But not Star, Star was different from the others and now she needed him. And even though he knew he had only just met her, he felt a connection beginning to form followed by a growing and overpowering urge to help and protect her.

And, just as he was coming to a decision, the door swung open and Star stepped out, every brain cell in Marco's head frying at once, bringing him to a screeching halt. Her hair had been braided into twin pigtails and she had changed out of her already cute dress into something just as undeniably adorable... mossibly moreso. She now had on a long-sleeved blue and black winter dress with light blue leggings and black winter boots, her outfit complete with an absolutely precious purple cape. If she had been pretty before now she was downright gorgeous and the boy felt his heartbeat pounding in his chest the longer he looked at her. If fact it was so loud he began to fear she would be able to hear it and he swallowed, trying to will it back to a normal rhythm. "So how do I look?" Star asked him with a smile.

Marco, thrown off guard by this, began trying to form a comprehensible sentence, choking out a squeaky, "You look... amazing." The boy wanted to slap himself for sounding like a total moron, but Star just smiled and surprised him with another warm hug, as she said, "Thank Marco! You've been a great help!"

As she released the now paralyzed boy from her grasp, she turned to Ferguson and Alfonso and said, "And thanks for the supplies guys! I really appreciate it!"

"No problem, princess," Ferguson said, with a wave of his hand. "Just maybe try and spread the word about our humble little shop when you get back with your sister."

Star giggled, saying sweetly, "I will."

She started toward the door then and Marco, finally recovering from the dazed state the blond's hug had left him in, quickly turned on his heels and grabbed a hold of her hand, blurting, "Wait!"

Star gave him a puzzled look, asking, "What's wrong, Marco?"

"I want to come too," he said quickly and the girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, really?" Star asked, looking genuinely caught off guard by this. That was definitely unexpected.

"Well yeah, I can't just let you go out there alone," Marco explained, his eyes somehow full of both concern for her safety and a fond warmness that Star couldn't quite place. "No offense but if you go up there alone you're only gonna end up getting yourself killed. I on the other hand have been climbing mountains my whole life. You need my help."

Star's face lit up with joy for a second but she quickly got a hold of herself, shaking her head and saying in a halfhearted tone, "No, no, Marco. I can't ask you to do that. This is my problem, not yours."

"Yeah well, maybe I want it to be my problem, too," he said firmly, his voice leaving no room for argument.

The blond bit her lip, whispering under her breath, "I don't know."

"Please Star. It wouldn't feel right, letting you do this on your own. Let me help you."

Star stared into his begging eyes for a moment, feeling his intense desire and need to come with, and she felt a smile slowly spreading on her face as she reconsidered his offer. He did seem so sincere and had already proven himself trustworthy in her eyes, maybe she should let him come with. She didn't really know what she was doing and having him to guide her would be a lot easier than her stumbling around in the snow all alone like she'd been doing. Beside, if she was being honest with herself, she wanted him to be there with her. She didn't know why but she was intrigued by this boy and found herself seeking his company and companionship, for reasons beyond her level of comprehension. And the longer she stared into his stunning chocolate brown orbs, the more sure she was that he should come with.

Which was why Star found herself nodding and saying, "Alright, Marco. You know what, let's do it."

Marco's face seemed to brighten at that, his voice full of hope and joy as he asked, "Really?"

"Yep, with the two of us working together, nothing will be able to stop us," the girl said confidently.

The boy laughed, which for some reason sounded like music to Star. "I don't know about that," he muttered sheepishly. "But we'll definitely stand a better chance if we work as a team."

"Heck yeah, we will," the girl said, putting an arm around his shoulder as she drew him closer to her, causing his face to instantly flush. She turned back to Ferguson and Alfonso, walking backwards with Marco out the door as she said in a determined tone, "Keep those ice cubes and fans ready boys cause summer is gonna be back before you know it!"

The two boys waited until the little door to their shop closed, before sharing a look, Alfonso simply asking, "So they're _both_ gonna die, right?"

…

"Okay well, if we're going after your sister," Marco began as he led Star over to the barn next to the outlet shop. "we might as well ride in style."

The blond gave him a curious look, asking giddily, "You got something in mind?" She elbowed him with a playful wink, while Marco just gave her a little smirk in response.

"You'll see," he hinted mischievously.

"Ooohh mysterious," she said excitedly, her eyes now shimmering with anticipation.

As the two finally reached the door to the barn, Marco quickly threw the doors open with a flourish, saying, "Star, I'd like to introduce you to my traveling companion and best friend-"

"Ahhhh!" the blond screamed in excitement, not even letting the boy finish as she spotted the reindeer gently munching on some soft hay, and her hands flew to her cheeks, squeezing them tight. "Oh my gosh, you have a pet reindeer!"

"Uh yeah," Marco said hesitantly, a little startled by the girl's reaction. She acted as if she had never seen one before. Still he recovered enough to say, "Her name's Nachos!"

The girl zipped forward, quickly engulfing the shocked reindeer in a tight hug as she shouted in pure joy, "Oh I love her! She's adorable!" As Star pulled out of the hug, she began to gently scratch underneath Nacho's chin, making the reindeer practically purr in response to her touch. "Who's a good girl?" Star cooed. "You are. Yes you are!"

Marco smiled softly as he leaned against the door frame, finding this crazy blond girl quite endearing. Most people never reacted this way to Nachos, but then again Star wasn't most people. In his opinion... she was better. And it seemed Nachos agreed as she began licking the blond royal, who only giggled in response while still petting her. "Hey Marco look, she likes me!" Star said, looking over at him with twinkling eyes that perfectly matched her namesake and the boy felt his heartbeat pick up some in pace.

"Would you like to feed her?" he asked and Star gasped in delight.

"Can I?" she asked, hopefully.

"Yeah sure," he said, pulling out a small bag from the saddle and tossing it over to the blond. "Here you feed her these, while I get everything ready."

Star nodded in reply, before quickly untying the thick rope holding the bag closed, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she did. Nachos took this opportunity to gaze over at Marco, her gentle eyes silently questioning what exactly was going on and the boy patted her head, before explaining to his pet, "Star needs us to take her up the North Mountain to find her sister. Think you're up for it!" Nachos looked over at the giddy girl before turning back to Marco, nodding her head with a small grunt. "That's my girl," he said with another quick pat.

Star, finally got the bag open and her joy only seemed to increase as she skipped over to the two, holding up one of the tasty treats up to the reindeer's lips. "Here you go Nachos, a nice juicy carrot for you!" she exclaimed, before giggling as it quickly vanished from her hand and down the hungry creature's throat. "Wow, you must be hungry, huh," she said, giving Nachos a loving pet. "Well don't worry there's plenty more where that came from!"

The next several minutes passed by as Star fed Marco's Reindeer, while the boy worked to get everything together, going through their assortment of supplies, double-checking to make sure they had everything, before tying them all down securely to the sled. He then took the harness and attached them onto the reindeer, before triple-checking his work. It was important to be prepared, after all. Finally, they were ready to go, Marco nodding in approval of his work, before turning to his blond companion. "Okay Star, we're ready to go," he said, wiping the sweat off his brow.

"Alright!" the girl exclaimed, quickly hopping into the sleigh. But it seemed her enthusiasm was making it impossible for her to hold still as she practically bounced in her seat. "Let's go!"

Marco just laughed at the girl's childish antics, before climbing in the seat next to her. "Well you heard her, Nachos," he said over to his pet, before giving the reigns a little flick. "Let's move."

Nachos made a grunt in response, before quickly racing forward, barreling her way out of the barn as they started their journey through the snowy landscape. Star looked around her, starry-eyed at every sight she saw for a few minutes, before her eyes landed on the towering structure up ahead, looking dark and foreboding as it hovered in the distance. "Is that... the North Mountain?" she asked, concern in her voice for the first time in a while and Marco felt his heart ache at the strained tone. It sounded so wrong coming from Star.

"Yep," he replied, in the most pleasant tone he could, but he couldn't quite keep the grim somberness out of his tone. "We got a long way to go."

Star frowned, slouching some in her seat, as the sudden weight of the task fell on her at once. Everyone was counting on her, she couldn't let them down. She had to succeed. For her sake, for her people's sake, for Tom's sake, for Marco's sake, for... Meteora's sake. She felt a cold chill run up her spine as the image of her sister's distressed face entered her mind. What was she going to say when she saw her again? What could she say? They had barely spoken in years, how was she supposed to reconnect with her now after everything that had happened?

"Are you okay?" Marco's voice asked, cutting through Star's depressing thoughts as she slowly turned to him with a thin smile. "Yeah, just a little cold is all."

The boy stared at her for a few seconds and the blond felt his quizzical gaze digging into her skin, making her squirm in her seat. And the longer he looked the more paranoid the princess became, afraid she had upset him by complaining to him five seconds into their trip. After all, he was only there out of the kindness of his own heart and they wouldn't even be out there if it wasn't for her, she had no right to-

Star's thoughts were cut off once again, as she felt something soft fall over her shoulder. The girl blinked, as she found herself now sharing a blanket with Marco, the boy giving her a soft, comforting smile that made her heart bounce around in her chest. "Is that any better?" he asked, his cheeks slightly tinged pink, and the girl felt her throat close up, human speech incapable of escaping her lips for the moment. So she just settled for a quick nod.

Then to her greater surprise, he wrapped an arm around her waist bringing Star in closer to him, until their sides were touching. "Here, you'll stay even warmer if we stick close together." He seemed to suddenly become flustered by this decision though, as he quickly stuttered out, "But uh, y'know, If you don't want to that's okay too." He began to nervously scratch at his cheek and Star had to hold back the rising giggle over how adorable he looked at that moment.

"No, it's okay, I don't mind," she reassured him, causing a bright smile to light up his face.

The girl settled into a comfortable position, leaning as close to Marco as her body could allow, staring ahead at their destination, while the boy just focused on the task of holding the reigns steady. However, he couldn't quite keep his eyes still as he occasionally glanced over to his passenger, a nervous, but pleasant energy beginning to settle over the two. Suddenly, the sky seemed to light up with color as the two stared up at the aurora borealis in wonder, Star whispering under her breath, "Whoa, it's so beautiful."

"Yeah it is," Marco agreed.

After a few more moments of silence, Star's gaze returned to the North Mountain, where her sister was waiting for her. She felt her heart clench as she remembered back many, many years ago when her and Meteora had stayed up all night to watch the dazzling array of colors. It was a fond memory, one that Star realized she had almost forgotten completely, but she was glad to be reminded of it after all these years. And as she sat there in the sleigh, leaning against the strong, comforting form of Marco and guided by a thousand bright flashes of color and light, the blond felt a determination beginning to build within her chest once more. Her previous doubts and worries exited her mind and were forgotten, as she came to a new conclusion. She would find a way to fix this... to fix them. She would get her sister back, no matter what it took.

 _Just wait, Meteora. I'm coming for you._

 **And that does it for now, what did you guys think? I'll probably make more of this one later but I want to focus on some other stuff. This one was a little light on the comedy but I'll try and throw more in in the next one. If I can ever figure out who I want Olaf to be, haha! There are actually a lot of characters that work in his place and I could pretty much go any way I want with it. Who knows? Maybe when I get ready to return to this, I'll ask you guys, in the meantime feel free to pitch me ideas in the comments they are always really helpful and nice to see. Y'know it was nice to get to write non-villain Meteora for once, even if we didn't really get to see her perspective of events. I wanted most of this chapter to focus on Star and view things from her eyes (except for a teensy bit with Marco because I wanted to explain his thought process behind going) but next one I'm thinking about starting off by showing her side of things growing up before cutting back to Starco... I mean Star and Marco!**

 **Oh and don't worry guys Tom is not gonna be the villain in this story. I would never do that to my boy. If you want me to be honest I actually think Frozen would have been a bit stronger of a movie and would have really sold the message better if they hadn't pulled a twist villain for sake of twist villain and just had the kiss not work. I didn't hate this twist but I just think the movie could have been better... that's my two cents anyways.**

 **Okay so next up I am going back to writing on the Tangled story. Quite a few of you have been asking for more Little Mermaid but I have about 5 parts planned for Tangled and am coming up on part 4, whereas in the latter I have four parts planned as of now. So yeah I'd like to finish at least one AU before moving on and then maybe (probably) I can come back to the Little Mermaid one. I'm trying not to make this all too confusing to follow or keep up with but I wanted the freedom to write and post what I wanted for this one so thanks for sticking with me on this. And again I'll try and not make you wait too long for the next chapter.**

 **See you later, Stardom! Stay amazing!**

 **WaterDragonMaverick- Aww well thank you Eclipsa is such a complex character in the show, so I'm glad I got to give her a bit more motivation than just "Must stay young!" Hahah, I agree Mother Gothel was a good villain but she was more ruthless and lacked any sympathetic elements to really make her feel fleshed out. Her greed and obsession just made her sorta evil and that's it. I feel like even if Eclipsa did go down the route that Mother Gothel did in the show she would start to develop some sort of feelings for her daughter. I also like to think she is at war with herself, trying to decide which is more important to her, her daughter or her own needs. But we'll see how it plays out to find out which one wins. ;P**

 **Yeah me too... here let me oblige you a little...**

 **(Eclipsa in her lair, staring at her magic orb looking bored with eating a Seaweed Snookers)**

 **Eclipsa: (talking to orb) Globgore, sweetie, how is everything going with your recon mission? Have you found anyone else who needs our help?**

 **Globgore: (strained) Oh it's going fine, my love, just didn't expect so many piranha here in this area is all.**

 **Eclipsa: (raising a confused eyebrow) Piranha? Those shouldn't be in saltwater. Where are you?**

 **Globgore: Just over by the docks.**

 **Eclipsa: (Gasps in concern) On no Globgore, it isn't safe for you there! You need to leave before someone spots you.**

 **Globgore: Oh relax, my love. I blend in too well to be noticed.**

 **Eclipsa: Honey, you are a six foot tall bright red sea monster I think someone is bound to notice you.**

 **( A new voice picks up in the ball as it glows purple instead of red, this one in an incomprehensible coo)**

 **Eclipsa: Hang on Globgore, Meteora is trying to tell me something. (waves hand over orb and it lights up purple) Yes Meteora what is it?**

 **Meteora: Fooou it! Fooou it! (translation: Found it! Found it!)**

 **Eclipsa: (clapping her hands together excitedly) Oh good you found something! Mother is so proud of you! Let me see it, sweetie!**

 **(An image appears in the orb, showing Star sitting on a rock watching the empty shore line with a sad frown)**

 **Eclipsa: (sympathetically) Oh my, is that the princess? The poor dear, she looks so troubled. Please keep an eye on her for me, Meteora, so we can figure out what's wrong.**

 **Meteora: Ooooaaaaayyy! (Translation: Okay!)**

 **(Eclipsa waves her hand over the orb again, returning it to its red color)**

 **Eclipsa: In the meantime I should probably check in on your father and see how everything is going for him-**

 **(She pauses as the image of Globgore in a net hanging over a ship his body covered in biting piranha appears)**

 **Eclipsa: (sighing) Mind erase potion.**

 **Globgore: (sheepishly) Mind erase potion.**

 **(End scene)**

 **Haha, I like to think she has to use that potion a lot since her husband is bad at staying secret. Hope that helps fill the void a little! Yeah it would make sense she would steal them after Eclipsa gives away how her magic works without realizing Brittney's intentions. Good idea there, also like the idea of the magic working against her because magic always comes at a cost! I think Eclipsa would lay out the rules of her magic first since she doesn't intend to trick her and she wants her to know exactly what she is working with, so Star would be informed that she is going to lose her voice in order to get legs. From there I see Eclipsa having Meteora and Globgore keep a close watch on her and then maybe even have the whole family show up in the finale to help stop Brittney.**

 **I do have some more plans for Eclipsa, she is planned to be the fairy godmother, along with Janna who is the fairy godmother in training (cause I really want to try out their dynamic), I'm not entirely sure on Atlantis since I'm still figuring out some key characters for that one but we'll see. I'm planning on doing a vote for the fairy characters in Sleeping Beauty because I have too many sets of characters that could work there, though the idea of a past queen being replaced with Maleficent is interesting... I'll have to think on that. Not too sure on her making an appearance in Frozen but I definitely want her and her fam in Beauty and the Beast. Which begs the question, what object would Eclipsa be? I'm thinking... umbrella? As for Meteora and Globgore... I'll keep thinking on it, hehe.**

 **RJWritingInk- Okay thanks for the vote, Meteora won and I did extend the age down some so she is 18 rather than in her early 20s, which still kept her as the older sibling.**

 **Acosta perez jose ramiro- Thank you! It is so much fun to adapt some of my favorite movie moments into something unique using some very cool characters. It's fun to imagine just how much the story would change if Star and the gang was in these roles instead! Hehe, I'll try! :D**

 **Bedrock Armor- Yeah, I think all writers know this pain. It is a tough hurdle to get over sometimes and in some cases the harder you push the worse it seems to get. It's a very hard thing to fight through. Hoo boy, I haven't been able to post a chapter on time in a while so I feel ya man. Yeah two months is a long break but y'know sometimes it just can't be helped, I know it would be nice to already have the story done but sadly things don't always work out that way. Also wow, can't believe there are only** _ **two chapters**_ **left! I'll admit I'm excited to read them but I (and hopefully the rest of your readers) am patient and happy to wait till you're able to get it done. Don't stress yourself okay, taking a little time to rest your mind and then come back fresh is understandable.**

 **Yeah I see your thinking Star would fit as Elsa too and as much fun as that would be to explore, her personality is a lot closer to Anna and well I wanted to see her filling her role more. Also I totally made Sven Nachos which I hadn't even considered before so thank you for that! Also, also you don't know that Marco is Kristoff... okay yeah he's clearly Kristoff, gonna get my Starco quota in there somehow! ;)**

 **Welp since there was an overwhelming vote toward Meteora I would say you were right on the nose. I didn't really consider the fact that it would be OOC for Eclipsa to act the way Elsa did in the movie, but you are absolutely right. She wouldn't lock herself away like that since she seems unashamedly proud of herself and uncaring of people judging her. Plus she probably wouldn't lose he temper and lash out at Star either, so yeah she wouldn't fit there. Meteora is actually a lot more like Elsa than I thought, since she already came across as a troubled character in the show and is known to have a temper on her. Haha, you're right a lot of people seem to write Meteora the same way as me, so I guess that means I'm doing her right!**

 **Can't blame you there, I'm wanting more of it now too, only two more chapters of Tangled and then hopefully I can make a part 2.**

 **Starco4everr- Thank you so much!**

 **Sugar- Haha, it was one of the things you guessed but it was so perfect I couldn't not use it! Plus I figured I'd put the Monsters in there, it was the best fit. Tom and Ludo being annoyed by everything going on around them was a ton of fun to write! My favorite part was when they try to get Tom to sing and he just yells at them, hahaha! Oh I do like Tom back when he was still going through them anger issues. It was a little strange to not have my second favorite ship interact but I wanted to keep the focus where it was needed. *gasps* What if Janna was off having a secret romance scene with the rat while we weren't looking?! No just kidding, that didn't happen. Hahaha, thought you would like that. I honestly wasn't sure if I was gonna use the idea but when the moment presented itself I had to. It was too perfect and funny! XDDD**

 **Yep, two characters who never actually interacted with each other in the show working together! He does fit the role so well, agreed! Sadly Dennis is not there to provide him with some common sense being... "Don't make deals with strangers who just give you crowns!" If Dennis was in the story I think things would resolve way too soon. Uhhh... no comment. Okay yeah, sorry probably no Jantom for this one, she is actually a bat that turns human. But who knows maybe she can get her hands on a curse and turn him into a bat too then they could be together! Or y'know just a curse that makes her permanently human that would work too. Haha, oh man if they did that would be insane, Kelly would probably freak out if her horse suddenly started talking and then she could just annoy all the guards with her constant complaining. XD**

 **Hehe, I'm glad I did too, it was a fitting end for the chapter! I did go with Meteora but I made her 18 and Star 15 so she is the older sibling. That way she didn't seem too old but still fit the part of Elsa.**

 **Oh my gosh I looked her up and wow she is adorable! I also remember seeing an anime called "Nisekoi" where the main girl had pink tips and this cute bow that made it look like she had rabbit ears. I didn't get very far and I'm pretty sure it was setting itself up to be a harem anime but the character designs were quite nice. I think Star would just look so cute with this look and I got the idea strangely from the Starfan13 live chat way back in the day where she was thinking of dying her hair either blond like Star's or pink and someone suggested she dye it blond with pink tips and I was like, "That would be darling on Star!"**

 **Oh that is a good point! You are not the only one to suggest a different character there and while I'm glad I went with Meteora I think Jackie would have worked just as well in this role! Haha, I actually have nothing against Tomckie and if weren't for the fact that Jantom is just perfect I would probably ship them! I like the idea of them being polar opposites, fire and ice, but having them balance each other out well. Jackie being there to help cool Tom's temper and maybe even having Tom help her learn to stick up for herself more since she was more go with the flow and didn't ever seem to get angry over things. Sometimes anger is a good outlet, y'know? I also had this initial feel going in to Frozen and it just seemed pretty common of Disney to give their princesses a love interest. That would have been nice and I still stand behind my statement that Frozen would have been better if Hans hadn't turned out to be a twist villain. He could have been a more complex and well developed character than we got. I mean I'm all for having a villain to hate but it seems like a missed opportunity to me.**

 **Those are both good ones though I have a stronger leaning toward Lion King 2. I also wasn't a fan of Pocohantas 2 for the same reason as you, I just liked Pocohantas and John Smith more. And yeah, love just doesn't always work that way. I usually like the sequels there are only a few I wasn't a fan of. One I think deserves more recognition is Bambi 2 because its all about Bambi and his dad learning to get along after his mom's death. I'm kinda a sucker for the parent-kid bondings so this was right up my alley.**

 **Finally, yeah, I do take them into consideration and I enjoy hearing them at the very least! I'm very open for ideas especially in this story and I love hearing ideas outside of my own! Also maybe it was a mistranslation because it seems like you said you don't like sharing them, which I can get I guess if this is true. Still thanks for the review as always, friend! :D**

 **DC the cat- Great glad to hear from you, better late than never am I right? ;) Just so you know I never expect reviews and I totally understand if you can't or don't post one for every chapter! Plus, sounds like you have been** _ **busy**_ **! Wow, I'm tired just hearing about your month! Hope everything has calmed down for you some during the new year! Man, sometimes things just don't want to go your way! I remember having a similar experience with my friend's computer not working and then having to replace it multiple times, even down to my printer dying! Weird. XD**

 **Yeah it can be hard to convey exactly what the music is supposed to be making you feel and I typically hold these to high standard because of that. So making one for myself was a bit of a challenge but one that I hoped turned out well. Haha, can't take the credit for this myself this was an idea by my good friend "SugarQueen97" and I had to use it when I realized it was the perfect icing on the cake for Marco's weird day! And she is absolutely a were-bat because it sounds cooler than were-human. Yeah it was definitely a darker moment that the story just sorta brushed aside as a funny joke, it was one of those jokes that I think went over most kids heads. Hahahaha I actually have never seen this movie but now I want to! That is very funny and a bit of an obscure reference but hey it works! As long as it's positive than I see no problem. Besides my brain is wired in weird ways and can think of the most strange references sometimes. I can't probably name how many times someone has been talking to me and I just quote a random Disney line.**

 **They are both very good series and while at first I was upset at the idea of one ripping off the other now I like the idea that they inspired each other. SG-1 inspired Atlantis and that in turn inspired Stargate Atlantis! It seems kinda fitting in that way and they both stand well enough on their own so I'm just going to appreciate them for what they are. I do like science fiction and there are many stories I enjoy but I am most familiar with animation. I am a Disney dork and just love animated stuff in general, I have nothing against live action and there are plenty of things live action I love but I have a soft spot for animation and that will probably never change!**

 **Okay, thanks for the vote, everyone else seemed in favor of Meteora as well. They are similar enough to really work, a lot better than I think Eclipsa would have. I am always open for suggestions and I love hearing them regardless if I take them or not. Hmm, this is actually a very good idea! Moon would work really well as Elsa since she was essentially just like Star as a kid but had to age and mature a lot faster than her. It would make sense hiding her powers would cause her to grow up so fast and Star would stay the same. And yeah they look a lot more like sisters than Star and Meteora probably do but sadly I had already started on this chapter and I really didn't want to rewrite everything. Still great and interesting idea, it would have been cool to see Moon in that role!**

 **Haha, thank you, Happy belated holidays to you too!**


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